Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TURN'PIKE, n. [turn and pike.]

1. Strictly, a frame consisting of two bars crossing each other at right angles, and turning on a post or pin, to hinder the passage of beasts, but admitting a person to pass between the arms.
2. A gate set across a road to stop travelers and carriages till toll is paid for keeping the road in repair.
3. A turnpike road.
4. In military affairs, a beam filled with spikes to obstruct passage. Cyc.