ditch
nounverbverbnouncommon in dialogue
- //dɪt͡ʃ//
A trench; a long, shallow indentation, as for irrigation or drainage.
noun
- 1
A trench; a long, shallow indentation, as for irrigation or drainage.
Digging ditches has long been considered one of the most demanding forms of manual labor.
The truck careered off the road into a ditch.
Ditches continued to be employed as the sole defensive measure at many sites even after wall building began to emerge. For example, an immense ditch varying between 15 and 20 meters in width and marked by depths of 2.5 to 3.8 meters has recently been discovered in Hubei near Sui-chou.
- 2
A raised bank of earth and the hedgerow on top.
You flung a ditch on my vision Of beauty, love and truth. O stony grey soil of Monaghan You burgled my bank of youth!
The original ditches were created by digging trenches, as boundaries and/or irrigation. But to the English, the ditch is the trench. Whereas in Ireland, the ditch is the raised bank of earth and the hedgerow on top. (As for the trench, where I come from that’s a sheugh).
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *dīkaz Proto-West Germanic *dīk Old English dīċ Middle English dich English ditch From Middle English dich, from Old English dīċ (“trench, moat”) from Proto-Germanic *dīkaz (compare Swedish dike, Icelandic díki, West Frisian dyk (“dam”), Dutch dijk (“dam”), German Teich (“pond”)), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to stick, set up”) (compare Latin fīgō (“to affix, fasten”), Lithuanian diegti (“to prick; plant”), dýgsti (“to geminate, grow”)). Doublet of dike.
verb
- 1
To discard or abandon.
Once the sun came out we ditched our rain-gear and started a campfire.
Why did you ditch your last boyfriend? He was so nice to you.
I wanted to see Phil. I didn't. Mom didn't want to drive in this bad weather. I started to cry. Phil probably thinks I'm ditching him. I want to see him sooo bad.
- 2
To deliberately crash-land an airplane on water.
When the second engine failed, the pilot was forced to ditch; their last location was just south of the Azores.
- 3
To deliberately not attend classes; to play hookey.
The truant officer caught Louise ditching with her friends, and her parents were forced to pay a fine.
"No, instead, it just had enough power to transform me, overload, and force me to wait to change back! I had to ditch school!"
- 4
To dig ditches.
Enclosure led to fuller winter employment in hedging and ditching.
- 5
To dig ditches around.
The soldiers ditched the tent to prevent flooding.
- 6
To throw into a ditch.
The engine was ditched and turned on its side.
verb
- 1
Variant of deechAlternative form of deech.
Etymology
From earlier deche, from Middle English dechen, from Old English dēcan (“to smear, plaster, daub”). More at deech.
noun
- 1
Variant of deechAlternative form of deech.
Forms
- plural
- ditches
- past tense
- ditched
- past participle
- ditched
- present participle
- ditching
- third person singular
- ditches
ditch · A trench; a long, shallow indentation, as for irrigation or drainage.
Ditch · The city of Calcutta.ditched · Having a ditchditto · That which was stated before, the aforesaid, the above, the…