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• ditch
  ditch

  noun

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

  noun

  an informal name for the Tasman Sea

ditch

American  

[dich] / dɪtʃ /

noun

• ditches
  plural

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)

• ditches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• ditched,
  past participle,  past
• ditching
  present participle

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)

• ditches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• ditched,
  past participle,  past
• ditching
  present participle

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

Derived Forms

• ditcher
  noun
• ditchless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ditches
  plural

Participles

• ditching
  present
• ditched
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• ditch
  simple
• ditches
  simple
• have ditched
  perfect
• has ditched
  perfect
• am ditching
  progressive
• are ditching
  progressive
• is ditching
  progressive
• have been ditching
  perfect progressive
• has been ditching
  perfect progressive

Past

• ditched
  simple
• had ditched
  perfect
• was ditching
  progressive
• were ditching
  progressive
• had been ditching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will ditch
  simple
• will have ditched
  perfect
• will be ditching
  progressive
• will have been ditching
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ditch Ditch ditches ditched ditching

So ditch the ball for some dumb bells and squats and get to work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 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

She’ll ditch them as soon as she can, I know, to help with guide duties.

From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper

There’s also the nuclear option: Ditch the cloud and back up your data to a local drive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026

Appeared in the October 6, 2025, print edition as 'Grown-Ups Ditch Happy Hour for Sack Races and Duck-Duck-Goose'.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2025

Her advice: Ditch the earbuds and use the hike as an extension of the mindful movement you just completed by letting yourself take in and appreciate the natural surroundings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 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

The tribes also have worked together after rains to orchestrate rescue missions for chi that are trapped in puddles, offshoots and agricultural ditches.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 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

She ditches Jessie, who winds up on a farm that was once the home of her former owner, Emily.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

Excavations uncovered field systems, ditches and enclosures, including horse paddocks, as well as the remains of farm buildings and storage structures.

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026

To Ranzi's surprise, in his home state of Acre—Brazil's westernmost region, a ranching center—PRONAPABA discovered half a dozen large circular ditches carved into the newly cleared land.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

It was ditched after 54 minutes of England's second game against Denmark never to be seen again.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

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

Sometimes I’d catch a ride with him, but he had that zero period in the mornings and he usually ditched me after practice to do something with his friends.

From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi

The move marks a rare case of a major AI developer ditching a new release over safety risks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Opponents of ditching testing requirements argued that the exams are a key tool to uniformly predict academic success from students of divergent backgrounds, as well as schools that may issue grades differently.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

The move follows a summer punctuated by reports of AI systems industrywide going rogue, and marks a rare case of a major AI developer ditching a new release because of safety concerns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

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

No ditching a date, especially right after arriving at your destination.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Related Words

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