Ditch and Dike Are the Hole and the Heap
A ditch is a channel dug in the ground. Its relative dike names the bank made from the earth thrown out of it.
A ditch is a narrow channel dug for drainage or defence. *Ditch* and *dike* are the same Old English word split in two, and they took opposite halves of the job: the ditch is the hollow you dig, the dike is the bank you build from the earth you took out. One digging produces both. The verb sense of abandoning something — *ditch the plan* — comes from crashing an aircraft into water, itself from putting a vehicle in a ditch.
- A dug channel. *A drainage ditch.*
- To abandon (informal). *They ditched the idea.*
- To land in water. *The pilot ditched the plane.*
- Dike or dyke — the bank. *A sea dike.*
- Last-ditch — final and desperate. *A last-ditch effort.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | ditch | A deep ditch. |
| Plural | ditches | Roadside ditches. |
| Verb | ditch | Ditch it. |
| Past | ditched | They ditched. |
| Related | dike | A sea dike. |
- The field is bounded by a ditch.Drainage.
- They ditched the plan entirely.Informal.
- A last-ditch attempt to save the deal.Idiom.
Digging words
- Ditch — the hollow dug out
- Dike or dyke — the bank built from the spoil
- Trench — deeper and narrower, often military
- Moat — a defensive ditch, usually water-filled
- Culvert — a covered channel carrying water under a road
Old English *dic*, a ditch or dike, from a Germanic root. The same word gave both *ditch* and *dike*, which specialised in opposite directions.
What is a last-ditch effort?
A final desperate attempt, from military language where the last ditch was the final defensive line.
Are ditch and dike the same word?
Historically yes. They split so that ditch names the hollow and dike the bank made from the earth removed.