Definition of turnpike

• n. - 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; a turnstile. See Turnstile, 1.
• n. - A gate or bar set across a road to stop carriages, animals, and sometimes people, till toll is paid for keeping the road in repair; a tollgate.
• n. - A turnpike road.
• n. - A winding stairway.
• n. - A beam filled with spikes to obstruct passage; a cheval-de-frise.
• v. t. - To form, as a road, in the manner of a turnpike road; into a rounded form, as the path of a road.