ditch
Use Ditch in a sentence
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)
3.
to dig a ditch or ditches in or around.
4.
to derail (a train) or drive or force (an automobile, bus, etc.) into a ditch.
5.
to crash-land on water and abandon (an airplane).
6.
Slang.
a.
to get rid of: I ditched that old hat of yours.
b.
to escape from: He ditched the cops by driving down an alley.
c.
to absent oneself from (school or a class) without permission or an acceptable reason.
00:10
Ditch
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
| to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax. |
| to bark; yelp. |
verb (used without object)
7.
to dig a ditch.
8.
(of an aircraft or its crew) to crash-land in water and abandon the sinking aircraft.
9.
Slang. to be truant; play hooky.
Origin:
before 900; 1940–45 for def 5, 1885–90 for def 6, 1955–60 for def 9; Middle English dich, Old English dīc; cognate with German Teich. See dike1
before 900; 1940–45 for def 5, 1885–90 for def 6, 1955–60 for def 9; Middle English dich, Old English dīc; cognate with German Teich. See dike1
Related forms
ditch·less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To Ditch
Collins
World English Dictionary
ditch (dɪtʃ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a narrow channel dug in the earth, usually used for drainage, irrigation, or as a boundary marker |
| 2. | any small, natural waterway |
| 3. | (Irish) 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. | last ditch a last resort or place of last defence |
| —vb | |
| 6. | to make a ditch or ditches in (a piece of ground) |
| 7. | (intr) to edge with a ditch |
| 8. | slang to crash or be crashed, esp deliberately, as to avoid more unpleasant circumstances: he had to ditch the car |
| 9. | slang (tr) to abandon or discard: to ditch a girlfriend |
| 10. | slang to land (an aircraft) on water in an emergency |
| 11. | slang (US) (tr) to evade: to ditch the police |
| [Old English dīc; related to Old Saxon dīk, Old Norse dīki, Middle High German tīch dyke, pond, Latin fīgere to stick, see | |
| 'ditcher | |
| —n | |
| 'ditchless | |
| —adj | |
| Ditch (dɪtʃ) | |
| —n | |
| the Ditch an informal name for the Tasman Sea | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
ditch
O.E. dic "ditch, dike," a variant of dike (q.v.). Verbal sense of "abandon, discard" is first recorded in Amer.Eng. 1899. Related: Ditched; ditching. Last ditch (1715) refers to the last line of military defenses.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
ditch definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Example sentences
Ditch that sunscreen that is making the sunscreen manufacturers wealthy.
So you ditch the truck driver and stand on the roadside in the dark, walking on until you come.
If outdoors, individuals should get out of cars and lie flat in a ditch or other depression.
But the more serious threat comes from semiautonomous machines over which humans retain nothing more than last-ditch veto power.
Idioms & Phrases
Nearby Words
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