Definitions for ditch
dɪtʃditch

Princeton's WordNet(1.57 / 7 votes)Rate this definition:

1. ditch(noun)

   a long narrow excavation in the earth

2. ditch(verb)

   any small natural waterway

3. ditch(verb)

   forsake

   "ditch a lover"

4. chuck, ditch(verb)

   throw away

   "Chuck these old notes"

5. dump, ditch(verb)

   sever all ties with, usually unceremoniously or irresponsibly

   "The company dumped him after many years of service"; "She dumped her boyfriend when she fell in love with a rich man"

6. ditch(verb)

   make an emergency landing on water

7. ditch(verb)

   crash or crash-land

   "ditch a car"; "ditch a plane"

8. trench, ditch(verb)

   cut a trench in, as for drainage

   "ditch the land to drain it"; "trench the fields"

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Ditch(noun)

   a trench made in the earth by digging, particularly a trench for draining wet land, for guarding or fencing inclosures, or for preventing an approach to a town or fortress. In the latter sense, it is called also a moat or a fosse

   Etymology: [OE. dich, orig. the same word as dik. See Dike.]

2. Ditch(noun)

   any long, narrow receptacle for water on the surface of the earth

   Etymology: [OE. dich, orig. the same word as dik. See Dike.]

3. Ditch(verb)

   to dig a ditch or ditches in; to drain by a ditch or ditches; as, to ditch moist land

   Etymology: [OE. dich, orig. the same word as dik. See Dike.]

4. Ditch(verb)

   to surround with a ditch

   Etymology: [OE. dich, orig. the same word as dik. See Dike.]

5. Ditch(verb)

   to throw into a ditch; as, the engine was ditched and turned on its side

   Etymology: [OE. dich, orig. the same word as dik. See Dike.]

6. Ditch(verb)

   to dig a ditch or ditches

   Etymology: [OE. dich, orig. the same word as dik. See Dike.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Ditch

   A ditch is usually defined as a small to moderate depression created to channel water. In Anglo-Saxon, the word dïc already existed and was pronounced "deek" in northern England and "deetch" in the south. The origins of the word lie in digging a trench and forming the upcast soil into a bank alongside it. This practice has meant that the name dïc was given to either the excavation or the bank, and evolved to both the words "dike"/"dyke" and "ditch". Thus Offa's Dyke is a combined structure and Car Dyke is a trench, though it once had raised banks as well. In the midlands and north of England, and in the United States, a dike is what a ditch is in the south, a property boundary marker or small drainage channel. Where it carries a stream, it may be called a running dike as in Rippingale Running Dike, which leads water from the catchwater drain, Car Dyke, to the South Forty Foot Drain in Lincolnshire. The Weir Dike is a soak dike in Bourne North Fen, near Twenty and alongside the River Glen. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. A trench is a long narrow ditch. Ditches are commonly seen around farmland especially in areas that have required drainage, such as The Fens in eastern England and the Netherlands.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Ditch

   dich, n. a trench dug in the ground: any long narrow receptacle for water.—v.i. to make a ditch or ditches.—v.t. to dig a ditch in or around: to drain by ditches.—ns. Ditch′-dog (Shak.), a dead dog rotting in a ditch; Ditch′er, a ditch-maker. [A corr. of dike.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. ditch

   In fortification the excavation in front of the parapet of any work, ranging in width from a few feet in field fortification to thirty or forty yards in permanent works, having its steep side next the rampart called the escarp: the opposite one is the counterscarp. Its principal use is to secure the escarp as long as possible. There are wet ditches and dry ones, the former being less in favour than the latter, since a dry ditch so much facilitates sorties, counter-approaches, and the like. That kind which may be made wet or dry at pleasure is most useful.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. ditch

   In fortification, is an excavation made round the works, from which the earth required for the construction of the rampart and parapet is obtained. Ditches are of two kinds, wet and dry; but in modern fortification the dry ditch is considered preferable to the wet one. When the excavation is on the side farthest from the enemy it is called a trench.

How to pronounce ditch?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say ditch in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of ditch in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of ditch in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of ditch in a Sentence

1. Charles Krauthammer:

   Obama promised when he began these negotiations 18 months ago, he had a time limit… This was the last ditch negotiation, the last chance for Iran to come clean, [Obama] said we’re going to do this for six months, then we will reimpose sanctions if Iran hasn’t [made an agreement]… What does he do? He doesn’t impose sanctions. He extends talks.

2. Jared Goodman:

   The tide has turned for SeaWorld, it's a last-ditch effort to sway a public that has already made up its mind.

3. Brett VandenHeuvel:

   Those constitutional arguments, I think, are a last ditch effort, coal is dirty every step along the way, from the strip mines in Wyoming and Montana to the transport, and the burning of it in Asia.

4. Art Caplan:

   I think the publicity helps and lets more people know' maybe there's a last ditch thing I ought to pursue,' but at the end of the day, creating a world in which you say there's a right to try, if it's nothing more than a right to beg a company, that right already exists, and you're really not doing much to help anybody gain access to much of anything.

5. Curtis Penix:

   When a large truck would come by, we had this little technique where we would lean (on their walking sticks) into the ditch and away from the road, just long enough for them to go by, and then we'd pop back out on the road.

Images & Illustrations of ditch

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