Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also spike up) to add alcohol (clandestinely) to an ostensibly non-alcoholic drink; occas. of adding flavour to non-alcoholic drinks (see cit. 1949).

1889		in S. McIlwaine Poor White (1939) 133: Water from biled hops an’ poke root, an’ sweetened wi’ lasses and spiked wi’ good strong whiskey .
1900		E.H. Babbitt ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:i 63: spike, v. To fortify a drink by adding wine or spirits.
1915		H.E. Rollins ‘A West Texas Word List’ in DN IV:iii 229: spike, v. To flavor with wine or whiskey, as ‘She spikes her cakes’.
1928		R. Carr Rampant Age 148: Sorry I haven’t got anything to spike this stuff up with.
1934		J.L. Kuethe ‘Prison Parlance’ in AS IX:1 27: spike. To doctor beer.
1935		Archie Seale Man About Harlem 26 Oct. [synd. col.] [He[ refused to contribute hiis share [...] if any part of it is used to spike (liquor to you) the punch.
1949		This Week Mag. 7 May 20/2: Drinking water tastes so bad it has to be spiked with lime or orange extract [DA].
1956		N. Algren Walk on the Wild Side 28: She spiked a coke with tequila.
1961		M. Braly Felony Tank (1962) 121: She spiked her own coffee.
1974		G.F. Newman You Flash Bastard 92: She fetched him milk, and a tissue. ‘Want it spiked with scotch?’.
1999		Guardian G2 25 Aug. 9: I nicked booze from home to bring to school, where we spiked our cokes.
2001		S. King Dreamcatcher 364: He might be able to promote something to spike his coffee with.
2013		T. Dorsey Riptide Ultra-Glide 130: Coleman sipped a bottle of Dr Pepper spiked with vodka.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 228: I sipped coffee. [...] It spiked the [Dexedrine] juiced blood in my veins.

2. to adulterate ‘near-beer’ (brewed during Prohibition) with a mixture of ginger beer and pure alcohol.

1946

Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 63: These barrels of near beer were trucked out to the Arrowhead to be spiked.

3. to adulterate a drink, alcoholic or otherwise, or food, with a knockout drug.

1949		I. Shulman Cry Tough! 209: Now how about us gettin’ back to the pieces we were workin’ on, spikin’ their drinks, and dragging them over to our place.
1952		G. Marx letter 11 Apr. in Groucho Letters (1967) 159: A pint of cough medicine spiked with benzedrine.
1955		P. Rabe Benny Muscles In (2004) 298: That sharp, bitter whiskey. I remember now [...] You spiked it.
1979		F. Norman Too Many Crooks Spoil the Caper 100: Any idea how they spiked the whisky?
1993		K. Lette Foetal Attraction (1994) 128: All she had to do was spike his food with olive oil to boomerang him back into the clinic.
2005		H. Mantel Beyond Black 206: I’m baffled about that episode [...] I think it must have been when we went to that café-bar in Northhampton, somebody must have spiked my drink.

4. to (clandestinely) put a hallucinogenic drug (usu. LSD) into a drink or, occas., food.

1968		T. Wolfe Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1969) 275: He laughed and held me very close and told me that the Kool-Aid had been ‘spiked’ and that I was just beginning my first LSD experience.
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 214: Ain’t it some bad shit [...] It’s spiked with angel dust.
1999		Guardian Rev. 5 Nov. 23: Some grunged-out, narco-terrorist had spiked the water supply with acid.
2000		N. Griffiths Grits 123: Tha fuckin cunt Mickah. Spiked me fuckin drink with a trip.

5. to adulterate food or drink with a foreign substance other than a drug, i.e. ground glass.

2001		J. Stahl Plainclothes Naked (2002) 7: It wasn’t the first time she’d spiked his food [...] [a] little ant killer here, a dollop of furniture polish there. All in nuptial fun.
2007		W. Ellis Crooked Little Vein 1: I spiked bait with warfarin.

6. (drugs) to adulterate a narcotic with some form of poison.

2003

Simon & Burns ‘Hard Cases’ Wire ser. 2 ep. 4 [TV script] Just tell yourself that I spiked it, and be grateful you’re still standing.