dike 1 also dyke
(dīk)
(dīk)n.
1.
a. An embankment of earth and rock built to prevent floods.
b. Chiefly British A low wall, often of sod, dividing or enclosing lands.
2. A barrier blocking a passage, especially for protection.
3. A raised causeway.
4. A ditch; a channel.
5. Geology A long mass of igneous rock that cuts across the structure of adjacent rock.
tr.v.diked, dik•ing, dikes also dyked or dyk•ing or dykes
1. To protect, enclose, or provide with a dike.
2. To drain with dikes or ditches.
[Middle English, fromOld Englishdīc, trench; see dhīgw- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots, and fromOld Norsedīki, ditch.]
dikern.
dike1mafic dikes (the darker rock) in a mountain of granodiorite