Spicy?

Last night I went to a cafe/restaurant with some work people. I ordered the Spicy Moroccan beef with rice pilaf etc etc. When the dish came out I had a taste - I thought - "This tastes great, but spicy? I think not." I enjoyed the meal very much. My theory that food tastes better when someone else (ie: your work) is paying for it is still holding true in my mind.

Getting back to the issue of spiciness. I suppose in my mind I associate "spicy" with "hot". If something is listed as being spicy then I would expect more than a mild tang. Now I know that everyone has different tolerances to hot food and comparing peoples' tolerance is like asking "how long is a piece of string?" Especially when I tend to like it when my food fights back a bit.
But all the same if I see the word "spicy" describing a dish on a menu - I think of really strong flavours. Then again, spices can be subtle or mild in flavor so perhaps I'm just full of crap.

www.dictionary.com comes up with the following definitions for spicy. Looking at these I think I'm off the mark in thinking that spicy=hot.