ditch
noun
a long, narrow excavation made in the ground by digging, as for draining or irrigating land; trench.
ditch
American
[dich]
/ dɪtʃ /
noun
-
ditches
plural
-
a long, narrow excavation made in the ground by digging, as for draining or irrigating land; trench.
-
any open passage or trench, as a natural channel or waterway.
verb (used with object)
-
ditches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ditched,
past participle, past
-
ditching
present participle
-
to dig a ditch or ditches in or around.
-
to derail (a train) or drive or force (an automobile, bus, etc.) into a ditch.
-
to crash-land on water and abandon (an airplane).
-
Slang.
-
to get rid of.
I ditched that old hat of yours.
-
to escape from.
He ditched the cops by driving down an alley.
-
to absent oneself from (school or a class) without permission or an acceptable reason.
-
verb (used without object)
-
ditches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ditched,
past participle, past
-
ditching
present participle
-
to dig a ditch.
-
(of an aircraft or its crew) to crash-land in water and abandon the sinking aircraft.
-
Slang. to be truant; play hooky.
ditch
1
British
/ dɪtʃ /
noun
-
a narrow channel dug in the earth, usually used for drainage, irrigation, or as a boundary marker
-
any small, natural waterway
-
a bank made of earth excavated from and placed alongside a drain or stream
-
informal either of the gutters at the side of a tenpin bowling lane
-
a last resort or place of last defence
verb
-
to make a ditch or ditches in (a piece of ground)
-
(intr) to edge with a ditch
-
informal to crash or be crashed, esp deliberately, as to avoid more unpleasant circumstances
he had to ditch the car
-
slang (tr) to abandon or discard
to ditch a girlfriend
-
informal to land (an aircraft) on water in an emergency
-
slang (tr) to evade
to ditch the police
Ditch
2
British
/ dɪtʃ /
noun
ditch
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ditchsimple
-
ditchessimple
-
have ditchedperfect
-
has ditchedperfect
-
am ditchingprogressive
-
are ditchingprogressive
-
is ditchingprogressive
-
have been ditchingperfect progressive
-
has been ditchingperfect progressive
Past
-
ditchedsimple
-
had ditchedperfect
-
was ditchingprogressive
-
were ditchingprogressive
-
had been ditchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ditch
before 900; 1940–45 ditch for def. 5, 1885–90 ditch for def. 6, 1955–60 ditch for def. 9; Middle English dich, Old English dīc; cognate with German Teich. See dike 1
Explanation
A ditch is a long trench or pit dug into the ground. If your lawns are always soggy, build a drainage ditch for the excess water to flow into. A ditch can be a man-made trench, usually long and narrow, dug into the earth, or a natural ditch made by flowing water. Originally used for farming, we now use ditch for any pit in the ground. Ditch can also be a verb meaning to toss something or forsake it. You can ditch a plan that's going wrong, or a boyfriend who is misbehaving. If you make an emergency crash landing, you ditch your plane.
Vocabulary lists containing ditch
30 Great Words from Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Ain't I a Woman?"
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Texas Stock Exchange’s audacious plan to challenge Wall Street’s financial dominance hinges on convincing companies to ditch their New York listings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Will Nigel Farage ditch the "aggrieved" tone he has been accused of adopting recently?
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Even if they want to ditch the industrial food products, healthier alternatives cost more -- and in poverty stricken areas of East Tennessee, that's a non-starter.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
When complex medical diagnoses emerge, Medicare Advantage subscribers often ditch their plans and switch to traditional Medicare, but making that change can be difficult and expensive.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
Then she was on her feet, tramping the ditch at a brisk pace and trying to work out of the rope around her before the horse broke into a trot.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Appeared in the August 17, 2026, print edition as 'Warsh Is Wise to Ditch the Dots'.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Ditch the crowds: Look out for other American milestone celebrations this summer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Hunter Ditch, a producer and voice actor in Lake Balboa, raised similar concerns about the lack of accurate information.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2025
The allegations were made on The Ditch website.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2024
Out on Ditch Road, a stoplight turned yellow, then red.
From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green
As it happens, there were lots of terrible drivers on the road—and in the ditches beside them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
There are more than 100 ways to restore peatland, including blocking drains and ditches and re-establishing bog vegetation.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
Launching in the UK and Ireland on 22nd June, the Playground ditches controllers for body movements, tracking players using AI and a built-in camera.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
“There are some ditches in the area, so the person was out of view for a bit as well.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Would they do better to stand and fight behind Deepwood’s deep ditches and wooden walls?
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Over the past few years, Southwest ditched hallmark features like open seating and started charging for checked bags.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
The British digital bank was set up in 2015 as a "new kind of bank" that ditched physical bank branches for a mobile-first app.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Tech mavens, including Musk, have ditched California for the Lone Star State.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
So she's ditched the teenage angst of her debut, but also the poise of its follow-up.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
My security detail wore shorts and sneakers and ditched their earpieces, doing their best not to stand out as they trailed me and my assistant Kristin Jones through the store.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Leyshon was recovered about two hours after the ditching and was pronounced dead in hospital, while the other two crew members suffered minor injuries.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Crocs attacked an oversupply of aging inventory by ditching discounts and making products less available.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Investors have been ditching AI-linked stocks due to worries about surging memory-chip prices.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
But ditching the physical disc strikes a blow to secondhand markets like GameStop, allowing Take-Two to capture more profits, Griffin added.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
“Yeah. 1 feel a little guilty about ditching my parents, though.”
From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
