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View synonyms for

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

/ ɪʃ /

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. last ditch
    a last resort or place of last defence
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Ditch

2

/ ɪʃ /

noun

  1. the Ditch
    an informal name for the Tasman Sea
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈ徱ٳ, adjective
  • ˈ徱ٳ, noun
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Other Word Forms

  • 徱ٳl adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of ditch1

before 900; 1940–45 ditch fordef 5, 1885–90 ditch fordef 6, 1955–60 ditch fordef 9; Middle English dich, Old English ī; cognate with German Teich. See dike 1
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Word History and Origins

Origin of ditch1

Old English ī; related to Old Saxon ī, Old Norse ī쾱, Middle High German ī dyke, pond, Latin ī to stick, see dyke 1
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Idioms and Phrases

see last-ditch effort .
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The Post Office has paid more than £600m of public money to continue using the faulty Horizon IT system despite deciding to ditch it more than a decade ago, the BBC can reveal.

From

Another unexpected find has been a woman tossed in a ditch, in stark contrast to all the other people who were buried with great care.

From

He tried to make a U-turn going 60 mph and crashed into a ditch.

From

In a last ditch attempt to avoid being taken to court by TfL after it rejected his appeal, Mr Cooper went to Peterborough Magistrates Court to make a declaration statement.

From

The EPA ditched the roller method in late March for a simpler solution: two bright blue machines that look like giant sausage grinders.

From

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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