ditch.
A trench; a long, shallow indentation, as for irrigation or drainage.
Meaning & usage
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.
A raised bank of earth and the hedgerow on top.
Where this word comes from
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.
To discard or abandon; to stop associating with (someone).
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.
To discard or abandon; to stop associating with (someone). 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.
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.
To dig ditches.
Enclosure led to fuller winter employment in hedging and ditching.
To dig ditches. To dig ditches around.
The soldiers ditched the tent to prevent flooding.
To throw into a ditch.
The engine was ditched and turned on its side.
Where this word comes from
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.
Alternative form of deech.
Where this word comes from
From earlier deche, from Middle English dechen, from Old English dēcan (“to smear, plaster, daub”). More at deech.
Alternative form of deech.
Where this word comes from
From earlier deche, from Middle English dechen, from Old English dēcan (“to smear, plaster, daub”). More at deech.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.