ditch

A ditch is a long trench or pit dug into the ground. If your lawns are always soggy, build a drainage ditch for the excess water to flow into.

A ditch can be a man-made trench, usually long and narrow, dug into the earth, or a natural ditch made by flowing water. Originally used for farming, we now use ditch for any pit in the ground. Ditch can also be a verb meaning to toss something or forsake it. You can ditch a plan that's going wrong, or a boyfriend who is misbehaving. If you make an emergency crash landing, you ditch your plane.

Definitions of ditch
  1. noun
    a long narrow excavation in the earth
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    types:
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    drainage ditch
    a ditch for carrying off excess water or sewage
    irrigation ditch
    a ditch to supply dry land with water artificially
    ha-ha, haw-haw, sunk fence
    a ditch with one side being a retaining wall; used to divide lands without defacing the landscape
    trench
    a ditch dug as a fortification having a parapet of the excavated earth
    trench
    any long ditch cut in the ground
    approach trench, communication trench
    a trench that provides protected passage between the rear and front lines of a defensive position
    fire trench
    a trench especially constructed for the delivery of small-arms fire
    furrow
    a long shallow trench in the ground (especially one made by a plow)
    fosse, moat
    ditch dug as a fortification and usually filled with water
    slit trench
    narrow trench for shelter in battle
    type of:
    excavation
    a hole in the ground made by excavating
  2. noun
    any small natural waterway
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    type of:
    waterway
    a navigable body of water
  3. verb
    cut a trench in, as for drainage
    “ditch the land to drain it”
    synonyms: trench
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    type of:
    dig, excavate, hollow
    remove the inner part or the core of
  4. verb
    crash or crash-land
    “ditch a car”
    “ditch a plane”
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    type of:
    crash
    cause to crash
  5. verb
    make an emergency landing on water
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    type of:
    crash land
    make an emergency landing
  6. verb
    forsake
    “ditch a lover”
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    type of:
    abandon, desert, desolate, forsake
    leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
  7. verb
    throw away
    synonyms: chuck
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    type of:
    abandon
    forsake, leave behind
  8. verb
    sever all ties with, usually unceremoniously or irresponsibly
    synonyms: dump
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    type of:
    get rid of, remove
    dispose of
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