To dig ditches or furrows in for purposes of drainage or irrigation; to provide with ditches.

To carry off (water) by means of gutters.

transitive. To dig furrows in (land) to drain surface water. Frequently in passive. Also occasionally intransitive.

To cut a trench or trenches in (the ground).

transitive. To make channels or ruts in (ground); to ‘gutter’. Obsolete.

intransitive and transitive to make a trench with a plough.

transitive. To drain (land) by means of enclosed channels beneath the soil; to drain thoroughly.

transitive. To make or clear the neck of (a drain). Also with in. Obsolete.

transitive. To plough, make furrows in (also figurative); to dig up; (see also quot. 1882).