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turnpike

1. 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. I move upon my axle like a turnpike. (B. Jonson)

2. 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.

3. A turnpike road.

4. A winding stairway.

5. A beam filled with spikes to obstruct passage; a cheval-de-frise. Turnpike man, a man who collects tolls at a turnpike. Turnpike road, a road on which turnpikes, or tollgates, are established by law, in order to collect from the users tolls to defray the cost of building, repairing, etc.

Origin: Turn _ pike.