dyke

¹ American  

[dahyk] / daɪk /

noun

dyked, dyking

1. dike.

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dyke ² American  

[dahyk] / daɪk /

Also dike

noun

Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.

1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a lesbian.

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dyke ¹ British  

/ daɪk /

noun

1. an embankment constructed to prevent flooding, keep out the sea, etc

2. a ditch or watercourse

3. a bank made of earth excavated for and placed alongside a ditch

4. a wall, esp a dry-stone wall

5. a barrier or obstruction

6. a vertical or near-vertical wall-like body of igneous rock intruded into cracks in older rock

7. informal

   1. a lavatory

   2. ( as modifier )

      a dyke roll

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verb

1. civil engineering an embankment or wall built to confine a river to a particular course

2. (tr) to protect, enclose, or drain (land) with a dyke

Dyke ² British  

/ dɑɪk /

noun

1. Greg ( ory ). born 1947, British television executive; director-general of the BBC (2000–04)

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dyke ³ British  

/ daɪk /

noun

1. slang a lesbian

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Sensitive Note

The terms dyke and bull dyke are used with disparaging intent and are perceived as insulting. However, they have been adopted as positive terms of self-reference by young or radical lesbians and in the academic community. In the mainstream gay community, lesbian and gay remain the terms of choice.

Other Word Forms

• dykey adjective

Etymology

Origin of dyke

First recorded in 1940–45; earlier in form bulldike (with a variant bulldagger ); of obscure origin; claimed to be a shortening of morphodyke (variant of morphodite, a reshaping of hermaphrodite ), though morphodyke is more likely a blend of morphodite and a preexisting dyke; other hypothesized connections, such as with diked out or dike “ditch,” are dubious on semantic grounds

Example Sentences

The former Environment Secretary Steve Barclay has questioned in Parliament why there has been no prosecution yet, after hundreds of dead fish were found floating in a dyke.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026

I was the little junior dyke at Lesbian Tide with Jeanne Córdova, who had a huge influence on me.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 28, 2023

As I did that, I realized, “Oh, these are all people working inside what I consider dyke culture.”

From New York Times • Jun. 22, 2023

Join us for the annual rally focused on political activism — featuring dyke-identified speakers and performers — followed by a march around the North Capitol Hill neighborhood representing the wide spectrum of dyke identity.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2023

The solution is to build a dyke with floodgates—sliding panels that can be closed to seal off the opening—across the mouth of the river.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland