Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

ditch

[dich]

Example Sentences Origin

noun

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

any open passage or trench, as a natural channel or waterway.

verb (used with object)

to dig a ditch or ditches in or around.

to derail (a train) or drive or force (an automobile, bus, etc.) into a ditch.

to crash-land on water and abandon (an airplane).

Slang.

to get rid of: I ditched that old hat of yours.

to escape from: He ditched the cops by driving down an alley.

to absent oneself from (school or a class) without permission or an acceptable reason.

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Ditch is always a great word to know.

So is navel-gazing. Does it mean:

excessive absorption in self-analysis or focus on a single issue

wonderful, great, masterful, deeply satisfying

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

verb (used without object)

to dig a ditch.

(of an aircraft or its crew) to crash-land in water and abandon the sinking aircraft.

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

Related forms

ditch·less, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To ditch

Example Sentences

AS a way to save the world, digging a ditch next to a hillock of sheep dung would seem to be a modest start.

Japan's government has already told millions of office workers to ditch their suits.

Britain's government should ditch its plan to build one.

EXPAND

AS a way to save the world, digging a ditch next to a hillock of sheep dung would seem to be a modest start.

Japan's government has already told millions of office workers to ditch their suits.

Britain's government should ditch its plan to build one.

Six men worked outside the municipal office digging a ditch.

Build a ditch along the road and you end up with a wetlands with a whole new ecosystem.

Often barely three feet wide and half that deep, the lowly acequia is a hand-dug, lovingly maintained ditch.

To ensure good drainage, mark off rows and ditch between them to form planting ridges.

Next time you take the kids out for breakfast at your local greasy spoon, ditch the paper football.

Emma announced repeatedly that if reality began to usurp the ideal, she would ditch reality in less than a second.

He should learn from that small victory and be more willing to ditch the policies of the past.

Also called an irrigation ditch ivory: noun: hard, white substance that forms the teeth or tusks of some animals.

Ditch that sunscreen that is making the sunscreen manufacturers wealthy.

Ditch the lovely waifs for an episode and see some truly practical design.

In short, it's an ideal way to finally ditch boring old paper from your life.

Sign, but if the better job comes up, take it and ditch the adjunct gig.

Ditch the wall altogether, and you remove the temptation to scale it.

If outdoors, individuals should get out of cars and lie flat in a ditch or other depression.

Ditch the hand sanitizers, eat well, and get some sleep.

Making super thin laptops isn't the only thing you can do when you ditch bulky optical drives.

Never mind that it was the banks, with their reckless lending and monumental leverage, that drove us into this ditch.

So you ditch the truck driver and stand on the roadside in the dark, walking on until you come.

It is then of course barbarian to ditch dents in the trumpet with drugs or other brain treatments to change the sound.

The tunnel would sit in a ditch cut from the shallow river bed.

Britain's government should ditch its plan to build.

Adventurers need to ditch their swimsuits for long underwear, wool socks, and fleece gloves.

Thursday by a municipal heavy-equipment operator who was enlarging the ditch.

Christou said the ditch was protected by barbed wire to keep large animals from tracking the waste into fields.

These allow them to collect clean needles and ditch their old ones with no questions asked.

So people driving gas guzzlers will quickly ditch them for more fuel efficient ones, and the demand will drive the production.

Which may put a decade-long effort to restock the military's light tactical vehicle fleet in the ditch.

Smith, reimagines a drainage ditch with screens made from tree trunks and recycled window sashes.

The student should have had to start over and ditch the flawed design but the committee didn't make the student do.

So, it's time to ditch the retro relic and replace it with something from this century.

And while sometimes it's possible to ditch a textbook, it can't always be done.

Clan members found nothing suspicious at the grave but the next day came across a large plastic bag in a ditch.

Our treatment center was often a last ditch effort by the owners.

Ditch your rakish past and pick up an electric- or gas-powered leaf blower to clear your yard of.

One view gaining ground is that victory at the next election will go to whichever party is brave enough to ditch its leader.

We're not exactly talking swimming in an infinity pool as opposed to a drainage ditch here, people.

The firm probably would also have taken longer to ditch its aggressive corporate unilateralism.

It is designed to be an almost maintenance-free commuter bike, aimed at those who want to ditch their cars to save money.

The pipes themselves were less lucky, injured by shrapnel as he dived into a ditch.

Suddenly the steering wheel spins itself hard to the left and the car speeds toward a ditch.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

ditch (dɪtʃ)

—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 dyke¹]

'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
Cite This Source

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.

Slang Dictionary

ditch definition

tv.
to dispose of someone or something; to abandon someone or something. : The crooks ditched the car and continued on foot.
tv. & in.
to skip or evade someone or something. : Pete ditched class today.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

ditch

see last-ditch effort.

Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com

Searching for ditch?
How many words do you actually know?

FIND OUT

bar ditch barrow pit cattle guard counterscarp dike ditchdigger

Idioms & Phrases

last-ditch effort

Matching Quote

"I have three phobias which, could I mute them, would make my life as slick as a sonnet, but as dull as ditch water: I hate to go to bed, I hate to get up, and I hate to be alone."

-Tallulah Bankhead

Partners:Word Bloglines Citysearch The Daily Beast Ask Answers Ask Kids Life123 Sendori Thesaurus

About Privacy Policy Terms of Use API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Help