Home British & World English ditch

Definition of ditch in English:

ditch

noun

A narrow channel dug at the side of a road or field, to hold or carry away water.
‘their car went out of control and plunged into a ditch’
- ‘The trails cross irrigation ditches, and one eventually winds through rainforest to more open fields.’
- ‘In one town, invading militiamen had filled an irrigation ditch with concrete.’
- ‘We hit a ditch and in about ten or 15 minutes all was quite.’
- ‘Why did Isabel Gonzalez carry flowers to a roadside ditch for more than 50 years?’
- ‘Consider a complex obstacle consisting of wire, minefields, and antitank ditches.’
- ‘We found six species in a single small ditch beside the road to Bull Pond.’
- ‘In the medieval period there was a wide ditch in front crossed by a drawbridge.’
- ‘I jumped out and fell into a deep ditch by the side of the road.’
- ‘And there was no drainage ditch on the side.’
- ‘Just to complicate matters a little more there is a deep ditch running from corner to corner in the field.’
- ‘There are extensive anti-tank ditches, all in good order.’
- ‘Then you discover that the process has all the glamour of digging a ditch.’
- ‘Around 2,000 years old, it was also discovered by ditch diggers in north-east Scotland in 1816.’
- ‘But as he was about to climb up the muddy ditch, another water tree fell on him.’
- ‘He even has a water-filled ditch built around the altar.’
- ‘The vehicle hit a ditch and turned over on the driver's side.’
- ‘Most rural roadways are best suited to collect water in ditches on each side.’
- ‘Next, we came across a wide canal or antitank ditch that was filled with water.’
- ‘He dived into the weeds and rolled into the ditch filled with ice-cold water.’
- ‘And as soon as those ditches were filled, more were dug.’
trench, trough, channel, dyke, drain, gutter, gully, moat, duct, watercourse, conduit
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verb

[with object]

1Provide with a ditch or ditches.
‘he was praised for ditching the coastal areas’
dig a ditch in, provide with ditches, trench, excavate, drain
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1. 1.1no object Make or repair ditches.
  ‘we ditched around our tents’
  ‘His father worked for the nearby farms, doing ditching and draining, while his mother was an auxiliary nurse.’
  ‘I remember all the crafts they used to do: hedging, ditching - that's all gone now.’
2informal Get rid of or give up.
‘plans for the road were ditched following a public inquiry’
- ‘Together they ditched £155,000 of shares as the company's stock continued to hover around its highest level for three years.’
- ‘The other remedy, of course, is to ditch all home PCs - go on, just throw them out in the street and get rid of them.’
- ‘We ditched all the debris overboard and the chippies welded a piece of steel over the hole so we could carry on.’
- ‘More of them have broadband connections and a much larger percentage have ditched their landlines for mobile phones.’
- ‘Are Kiwis following the US trend towards ditching their landline in favour of wireless connectivity?’
- ‘However, some traditional but gender-specific Gaelic words have been ditched in favour of English borrowings.’
- ‘Alternatively, the psychometric tests could be ditched altogether.’
- ‘Jake ditched his bike at the clearing's edge and ran to the hut.’
- ‘However, to gain credibility with supporters he is ditching - or at least modifying - some of his pro-European views.’
- ‘Reaching middle age is a good time for a mental clear-out, ditching all this depressing clutter.’
- ‘Still, good to see they're still around, and back in the medical uniforms they briefly ditched.’
- ‘This would mean ditching all the stuff I've recorded and collected on quaint videotape, but it has to happen.’
- ‘Rules and procedures exist but, one soon realises, these are mere guidelines, to be used when helpful, and ditched when not.’
- ‘The electro-car would be used for several hours and then ditched within specified downtown limits.’
- ‘An interactive experiment gets ditched in its original form.’
- ‘But it bothers my head that my heart is so casual about ditching long and deeply held principles.’
- ‘Sal wakes him up to ditch the car and has trouble sleeping himself.’
- ‘But the second she opened the door, I ditched all my misgivings.’
- ‘None of my fellow smokers and ex-smokers can believe I still feel pangs of nostalgia for the habit I finally ditched in March after 25 years, on and off.’
- ‘We ditched the bikes and our bags and started to walk the perimeter.’
throw out, throw away, discard, get rid of, dispose of, do away with, shed
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1. 2.1 End a relationship with (someone) peremptorily.
  ‘she ditched her husband to marry the window cleaner’
  ‘Jen just completely ditched Ryan, which really was messed up of her.’
  ‘The speed at which other employers are ditching gold-plated occupational schemes and cutting their contributions is causing great dismay.’
  ‘He asked Sklar out, she accepted and, before long, she ditched her new husband and ran off with the comedian.’
  ‘Go along with it and then ditch him as soon as possible.’
  ‘She had been married for 25 years when her husband ditched her.’
  ‘Fred, however, is down in the dumps because Virginia has ditched him for a Texas millionaire.’
  ‘Anyway, I had some people telling me to ditch the girl, others telling me to forgive and forget.’
  ‘She knew Andy wouldn't just sleep with her and then ditch her.’
  ‘You need some breathing room, but you don't want to totally ditch Lindsay.’
  ‘The trick is to ensure that the words you speak when you ditch her reveal your true personality at last.’
  ‘If that means ditching a few people and making new friends than that's what she'll do.’
  ‘If it feels like your girl is ditching you for the guy, relax.’
  ‘Shanti's daughter, Raji, had a philandering husband who ditched her and took up with Kala.’
  ‘My best friend of many years finally ditched her louse of a husband.’
  ‘A few months ago, he was poised to quit the game after being ditched cruelly at the end of last season by Glasgow.’
  ‘She ditched her husband in the Sin City, as part of a life-changing de-cluttering exercise in the early nineties.’
  ‘How could she just completely ditch me, and for the one person who at that time truly hated me.’
  ‘And what about her emotional strain upon being ditched?’
  ‘Nobody's doubting Baxter's sincerity, but if he ditched even some of the throwaway lite rockers, he'd be a far edgier and ultimately more appealing prospect.’
  ‘I mean come on you can't just ditch us because you moved across the country.’
  break up with, jilt, cast aside, throw over, finish with
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2. 2.2North American Play truant from (school)
  ‘maybe she could ditch school and run away’
  ‘At that very moment I remembered I had totally ditched therapy.’
  ‘Some claimed to have ditched their high school or middle school to be on Berkeley's campus to show their opposition to the war.’
  ‘I have never skipped school or ditched it unless I was sick.’
  ‘Steve was at work and my mother was sleeping, so I could ditch school today.’
  ‘Plus, I had the thankful job to tell her that her friends had ditched her.’
  ‘I really hate it when people ditch me without even a phone call.’
  ‘What happened to regular teenage girls if they ditched school?’
  ‘She ditched school and forgot the twins, all things her mother would find out.’
  ‘If you want to ditch school and come over to hang out with me, they why should I stop you?’
  ‘But it was well past noon; he had gotten out from school and ditched his last class to come early.’
  ‘Sometimes I took classes that would be easy to pass so it wouldn't matter if I ditched.’
  ‘As your brother and your best friend, I ask you to ditch school today and go somewhere… anywhere as long as it's not school.’
  ‘At 15, Ed ditched school to go to L.A. and see the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Jason Lee, Ann, and Deanna.’
  ‘On my way to school I thought of multiple possibilities to ditch classes today.’
  ‘I was supposed to meet a friend, but she ditched.’
  ‘It continues to be a difficult temptation to ditch church and watch all the Sunday morning political shows, but I resisted today.’
  ‘On top of everything else, she was now ditching school.’
  ‘Did they ditch class, or did their teachers declare an impromptu holiday?’
  ‘I ditched seminar because he would expect to sit by me and I can't reject him without him asking me what's wrong.’
  ‘"My friends ditched me, " answered Brice, coming level with us and grinning.’
  stay away from school, not go to school, be absent, truant
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3Bring (an aircraft) down on water in an emergency.
‘he was picked up by a gunboat after ditching his plane in the Mediterranean’
- ‘The outer panels of the wing were sealed to help the aircraft to float in case it had to be ditched in the sea.’
- ‘The remaining engines subsequently lost power, and the captain ditched the airplane into the bay.’
- ‘He could see the blood on my face and thought it might be necessary for me to ditch my plane.’
- ‘Membership is available only to aviators who have ditched into the sea, and survived.’
- ‘Mr Burke said he believed the pilot deliberately ditched in the river - but left it late to avoid hitting villages on either bank.’
- ‘Deterioration of the hydraulic system could have resulted in us ditching the aircraft, just not so soon.’
- ‘A light aircraft pilot was said to be lucky to be alive tonight after ditching his plane in the Irish Sea.’
- ‘Last August, Fossett set a solo balloonist duration record, flying for 12 days, 12 hours and 57 minutes before ditching on a cattle ranch in Brazil.’
- ‘I was concerned that I was either going to have to ditch the aircraft or would have controllability problems on deck.’
- ‘The pilot ditched his aircraft in the lagoon surrounding the islands.’
- ‘Given the choice of landing in unfriendly Syria or ditching, he was forced to make a cutter landing at night, and he hasn't forgotten.’
- ‘He cannot make it over that last ridge to ditch in the sea.’
- ‘Why didn't the pilot just head out to sea and ditch the plane so the Chinese wouldn't have gotten a chance to capture it?’
- ‘Yes, you can bail out of the aircraft or you can ditch the aircraft in the ocean or you can land.’
- ‘Someone must have bailed out and ditched their flying machine over the water.’
- ‘At this point, the crew realized we might have to bail out or ditch the aircraft.’
- ‘Then reports of a massive cyclone start coming in; the boats are trapped at sea, the pilots are forced to ditch the plane in the drink.’
1. 3.1no object (of an aircraft) make a forced landing on water.
  ‘the aircraft was obliged to ditch in the sea off the North African coast’
  ‘The aircraft had to ditch in the North Sea and all six crew members were able to scramble out and into a dinghy.’
  ‘When it lost control it ditched into the water which will destroy all the electronics and gear inside the plane (security feature).’
  ‘The Tunisian airliner with 39 people on board was attempting an emergency landing before ditching into the sea, Italian officials said.’
  ‘One of their missions was to fire illumination flares to aid commercial and military aircraft that were forced to ditch at sea.’
  ‘Of the 16 bombers that took off, 15 crashed or ditched at sea.’
  ‘More than a dozen of its Faireys are reported as crashing or ditching into the sea, though none has yet been discovered in reasonable condition.’
  ‘Some planes searched in vain; a lot of the fighters had to ditch as they simply ran out of fuel.’
  ‘However, he had soon narrowed the search down to five aircraft ditched around Vis.’
  ‘Peter and Helen Walsh were among the four on board that lost their lives when the plane ditched into the sea in thick fog.’
  ‘The plane ditched 100m north of the rocks into a sea lashed by the gusting wind, and it took only seconds to sink.’
  ‘Unknown to our crew, the skipper had told the squadron our aircraft had ditched, and survivor status was unknown.’
  ‘Three crew members returning from an attack on Genoa died after their aircraft was forced to ditch in the River Humber.’
  ‘My wingman aborted somewhere along the line, and I escorted a B- 17 to a successful ditching in the middle of the North Sea.’
  ‘The flight turned into an Immediate disaster and had to ditch in icy waters.’
  ‘There was no distress call from the plane which circled the airport twice before ditching into the sea.’
  ‘All the time there were aircraft ditching in the sea.’
  ‘Geelong and Cessnock were also among the first units on scene when an RMAF Hawk aircraft ditched in the early phases of the exercise.’
2. 3.2US Derail (a train).
  ‘In Halifax I ditched the train in the first little yard (was it called Rockington... something like that), by the Bedford Basin, and went for coffee.’
  ‘Royal Mail controversially announced last June that it was ditching the trains, after 173 years, in favour of road and air transport.’