ditch

Meaning

Noun

1. A trench; a long, shallow indentation, as for irrigation or drainage.
2. (Ireland) A raised bank of earth and the hedgerow on top.

Verb

1. (transitive) To discard or abandon.
2. (ambitransitive) To deliberately crash-land an airplane on water.
3. (ambitransitive) To deliberately not attend classes; to play hookey.
4. (intransitive) To dig ditches.
5. (transitive) To dig ditches around.
6. (transitive) To throw into a ditch.

Verb

Alternative form of deech.

Synonyms

trench

canal

gutter

moat

pit

drain

channel

gully

hole

🕳️

ravine

fosse

abandon

brook

groove

dump

waterway

trough

scotch

irrigation ditch

discard

drainage ditch

irrigation canal

sluice

gulch

furrow

drop

drainage

dike

deep-six

chuck

depression

small canal

irrigation channel

valley

stream

mountain stream

scrap

canalize

sewer

jilt

den

junk

get rid of

dugout

soar

chuckhole

boom

💥

chasm

chase

boo

Translations

fossé

Graben

zanja

fossato

sloot

fosso

cuneta

greppel

fossa

foso

vala

rigole

gracht

fosso

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dɪt͡ʃ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: dich

Inherited from Old English: dīċ

Cognate with Swedish: dike

Cognate with Icelandic: díki

Cognate with Western Frisian: dyk

Cognate with Dutch: dijk

Cognate with German: Teich

Cognate with Latin: fīgō

Cognate with Lithuanian: diegti

Inherited from Middle English: dechen

Inherited from Old English: dēcan

In summary

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.