Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SPOKE, n. [Sax. spaca; D. spaak; G. speiche. This word, whose radical sense is to shoot or thrust, coincides with spike, spigot, pike, and G. speien, contracted from speichen, to spew.]

1. The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. – Swift.
2. The spar or round of a ladder. [Not in use in the United States.]