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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

The government has issued heat warnings and urged residents to take measures to stay cool, including encouraging office workers to ditch formal attire for breezier outfits.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Arevalo is one of 10 street vendors testing whether they can ditch petrol generators to reduce noise, planet-warming emissions and health risks posed by exhaust fumes.

From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026

Like a similar system in India called UPI, PIX has encouraged users to ditch cash and open bank accounts after years of avoiding slow and costly bank transfers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

A pair of new ETFs are betting that investors will ditch typical index funds to avoid having exposure to Elon Musk’s companies.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

I was pretty sure Grandpa Park was wrong about me ending up in a ditch.

From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

Ditch the crowds: Look out for other American milestone celebrations this summer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

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

David Ditch, a senior analyst at the Economic Policy Innovation Center, a conservative think tank, says Doge's work is needed.

From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2025

Ditch your car, the inevitable traffic and the parking rates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2024

Halfway across campus, I was over The Ditch and, out of habit, I stopped on the bridge and began looking for lovers.

From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg

He has tried to fortify the land, closing off gateways, putting in concrete blocks or piles of logs, and digging rows of deep ditches to make it undrivable.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 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

Frequently, the story ditches consistency for a cheap gag.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

Bedrock Robotics Chief Executive Boris Sofman visited the site last year, looking for land to test the company’s autonomous construction machinery, including excavators to dig ditches without human control.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

The barriers were seemingly endless miles of ditches, eighteen feet wide and fifteen feet deep.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

I ditched the cans, not because I’m an angel about what I ingest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Rucci ditched the local firm, set out on his own, and began educating himself about data centers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

Plans for an on-camera statement from Prince Harry that afternoon were hastily ditched.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

Already this year, Yosemite National Park has ditched a reservation system, leading to enormous crowds in the valley and on nearby trails.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

“It’s Ellie who ditched us, remember? It’s Savanna who hasn’t been nice to us.”

From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio

"Many people are forced between maintaining an accent they're proud of or indeed ditching their accent to try to just even move on in life," he said.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 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

Arte Moreno is unlikely to sell the Angels amid steady fan protests, but he can respond by ditching veterans and giving young talent a chance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

Part of the losses are due to the fact that Wall Street is ditching momentum plays this month, after aggressively chasing them in April and May.

From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026

“We felt so terrible ditching you!” she says.

From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott

Related Words

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