ditch

[ dich ]
See synonyms for: ditchditchedditching on Thesaurus.com

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.

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.

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

  2. 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)
  1. to dig a ditch.

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

  1. Slang. to be truant; play hooky.

Origin of ditch

1
before 900; 1940–45 for def. 5, 1885–90 for def. 6, 1955–60 for def. 9; Middle English dich,Old English dīc; cognate with German Teich.See dike1

Other words from ditch

  • ditchless, adjective

Words Nearby ditch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use ditch in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ditch (1 of 2)

ditch

/ (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

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

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

  3. last ditch a last resort or place of last defence

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

  2. (intr) to edge with a ditch

  1. informal to crash or be crashed, esp deliberately, as to avoid more unpleasant circumstances: he had to ditch the car

  2. (tr) slang to abandon or discard: to ditch a girlfriend

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

  4. (tr) US slang to evade: to ditch the police

Origin of ditch

1
Old English dīc; related to Old Saxon dīk, Old Norse dīki, Middle High German tīch dyke, pond, Latin fīgere to stick, see dyke 1

Derived forms of ditch

  • ditcher, noun
  • ditchless, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Ditch (2 of 2)

Ditch

/ (dɪtʃ) /


nounNZ
  1. the Ditch an informal name for the Tasman Sea

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with ditch

ditch

see last-ditch effort.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.