ditch

American  

[dich] / dɪtʃ /

noun

1. a long, narrow excavation made in the ground by digging, as for draining or irrigating land; trench.

2. any open passage or trench, as a natural channel or waterway.

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verb (used with object)

1. to dig a ditch or ditches in or around.

2. to derail (a train) or drive or force (an automobile, bus, etc.) into a ditch.

3. to crash-land on water and abandon (an airplane).

4. Slang.

   1. to get rid of.

      I ditched that old hat of yours.

   2. to escape from.

      He ditched the cops by driving down an alley.

   3. to absent oneself from (school or a class) without permission or an acceptable reason.

verb (used without object)

1. to dig a ditch.

2. (of an aircraft or its crew) to crash-land in water and abandon the sinking aircraft.

3. Slang. to be truant; play hooky.

ditch ¹ British  

/ dɪtʃ /

noun

1. a narrow channel dug in the earth, usually used for drainage, irrigation, or as a boundary marker

2. any small, natural waterway

3. a bank made of earth excavated from and placed alongside a drain or stream

4. informal either of the gutters at the side of a tenpin bowling lane

5. a last resort or place of last defence

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verb

1. to make a ditch or ditches in (a piece of ground)

2. (intr) to edge with a ditch

3. informal to crash or be crashed, esp deliberately, as to avoid more unpleasant circumstances

   he had to ditch the car

4. slang (tr) to abandon or discard

   to ditch a girlfriend

5. informal to land (an aircraft) on water in an emergency

6. slang (tr) to evade

   to ditch the police

Ditch ² British  

/ dɪtʃ /

noun

1. an informal name for the Tasman Sea

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ditch Idioms  

1. see last-ditch effort.

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Other Word Forms

• ditcher noun
• ditchless adjective

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

Example Sentences

"The university is prepared to ditch its commitment to its civic mission for the sake of minimal savings," the UCU added.

From BBC

Large corporations are not ditching core business software despite an AI-driven stock selloff, instead seeking better deals.

From The Wall Street Journal

Even so, she has ditched Max in favour of IMO, a less popular US-made app that has encryption.

From Barron's

For the first time since we’d both ditched corporate life 20 years earlier, we began to get a glimpse of what financial security looked like.

From The Wall Street Journal

As children across the country ditch school uniform for the day to raise money for Comic Relief, one Greater Manchester charity that has helped thousands of families with recycled uniforms will be receiving funding.

From BBC

Related Words

• abandon
• discard
• dispose of
• dump
• forsake
• jettison
• junk
• scrap