dike
1or dyke
an embankment for controlling or holding back the waters of the sea or a river: They built a temporary dike of sandbags to keep the river from flooding the town.
a ditch.
a bank of earth formed of material being excavated.
a causeway.
British Dialect. a low wall or fence, especially of earth or stone, for dividing or enclosing land.
an obstacle; barrier.
Geology.
a long, narrow, cross-cutting mass of igneous rock intruded into a fissure in older rock.
a similar mass of rock composed of other kinds of material, as sandstone.
Australian Slang. a urinal.
to furnish or drain with a dike.
to enclose, restrain, or protect by a dike: to dike a tract of land.
Origin of dike
1Other words from dike
- diker, noun
- un·diked, adjective
Other definitions for dike (2 of 2)
Other words from dike
- dikey, adjective, dik·i·er, dik·i·est.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use dike in a sentence
One who builds inclosures of stone, generally without lime; also dry-diker, S.Statist.
An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language | John Jamieson
British Dictionary definitions for dike
/ (daɪk) /
a variant spelling of dyke 1
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
Scientific definitions for dike
[ dīk ]
A body of igneous rock that cuts across the structure of adjoining rock, usually as a result of the intrusion of magma. Dikes are often of a different composition from the rock they cut across. They are usually on the order of centimeters to meters across and up to tens of kilometers long. See illustration at batholith.
An embankment of earth and rock built to prevent floods or to hold irrigation water in for agricultural purposes.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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