ditch

[dich]

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.

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

/ 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

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

/ dɪtʃ /

noun

1. an informal name for the Tasman Sea

Other Word Forms

• ditchless adjective
• ditcher noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ditch¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of ditch¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

see last-ditch effort.

Example Sentences

A priest who was passing by alerted the police when he saw the man lying in the ditch, according to local newspaper la Repubblica.

Read more on BBC

Still, it’s progress that he’s even thinking about ditching Labour’s climate obsession.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"It is better having the Irish government inside the tent to make this commission work rather than sitting outside and having the option of being the hurler on the ditch" he said.

Read more on BBC

While all that is going down, the torque-vectoring rear differential and traction/stability management systems are busy keeping you out of Rhode Island’s more fashionable ditches.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Both opposition parties say they would ditch climate targets and focus their efforts on making energy cheaper.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

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