diken.1
/dʌɪk/, U.S. /daɪk/ I. Senses relating to a ditch or hollowed-out section.† 1. An excavation narrow in proportion to its length, a long and narrow hollow dug out of the ground; a ditch n.1, trench, or fosse. Obsolete.Used from ancient times as the boundary of lands or fields, as the fence of an enclosure, as the defence or part of the defences of a camp, castle, town, or other entrenched place. In such excavations water usually gathers or flows: hence sense 2.† 4. Any hollow dug in the ground; a pit, cave, or den. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun]
dalea800
piteOE
dike847
hollowc897
hole946
seathc950
delfOE
hollc1050
ditchc1275
lakec1320
holetc1380
slacka1500
dell1531
vault1535
pit-hole1583
delve1590
lough1672
sinusa1676
gap1696
self-lough1700
scoop1780
cup1819
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > [noun] > ditch
dike847
ditch1045
graff1637
cuvette1678
cunette1688
coupure1710
van-fosse1728
847 Charter in Sweet O.E.T. 434 Ðonne on ðone dic, ðær esne ðone weg fordealf.
c900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (1890) i. v. 32 & hit begyrde and gefæstnade mid dice and mid eorð~wealle from sæ to sæ.
1016 Anglo-Saxon Chron. 7 May And dulfon þa ane mycele dic.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 7721 Þa þe dic wes idoluen & allunge ideoped. þa bi-gunnen heo wal a þere dic [c1300 Otho a þan dich] ouer-al.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 5829 Til he [Severus] dide make an ouerthwert dik, Bitwyxte to sees a ful gret strik.
c1380 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. I. 11 If þe blynde lede þe blynde boþe fallen in þe dyke.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9899 A dipe dik [Gött. dick, Trin. Cambr. diche] þar es a-bute [þe castel] Dughtili wroght wit-vten dute.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ii. l. 125 A-tour the dike thai ȝeid on athir side, Schott doun the wall.
1535 Goodly Prymer in Eng. sig. M.iij He is fallen in to the dyke whiche he made.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 4v Here, we see things seuerall bee, and there, no dyke but champion lyke.
1579 T. Churchyard Gen. Rehearsall Warres sig. Hiv The cheef Capitaine Manneryng had his deathes wounde, and fell doune in the dike before the gate.
2.
a. Such a hollow dug out to hold or conduct water; a ditch n.1Cf. February fill-dike at February n. Phrases.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > ditching or drainage > [noun] > ditch
dikec893
gripa1000
ditch1045
fosselOE
water-furrowlOE
sow1316
furrowc1330
rick1332
sewer1402
gripplec1440
soughc1440
grindle1463
sheugh1513
syre1513
rain?1523
trench1523
slough1532
drain1552
fowsie?1553
thorougha1555
rean1591
potting1592
trink1592
syver1606
graft1644
work1649
by-ditch1650
water fence1651
master drain1652
rode1662
pudge1671
gripe1673
sulcus1676
rhine1698
rilling1725
mine1743
foot trench1765
through1777
trench drain1779
trenchlet1782
sunk fence1786
float1790
foot drain1795
tail-drain1805
flow-dike1812
groopa1825
holla1825
thorough drain1824
yawner1832
acequia madre1835
drove1844
leader1844
furrow-drain1858
c893 tr. Orosius Hist. ii. iv. §7 Ymbutan þone weall is se mæsta díc, on þæm is iernende se ungefoglecesta stream.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 1566 With depe dikes and derke doubull of water.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 30 The fresche deu quhilk of befor hed maid dikis & dailis verray donc.
1594 H. Plat Jewell House 60 Syr Edward Hobbie..hath stored certeine dikes in the Ile of Sheppey, with sundrie kindes of Sea-fish, into which dikes by sluces, he doth let in..change of sea-water.
a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 43 An invention well deserving to be put in practice in England over all moats or dykes.
a1687 C. Cotton Poet. Wks. (1765) 108 In Dike lie, Drown'd like a Puppy.
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner ii. vi. v. 184 I made..some little dikes or water-courses about a foot deep..to receive the mischievous waters.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 62 Whole sheets descend of slucy Rain..The Dykes are fill'd.
1791 Cottingham Incl. Act 28 Division drains or dikes and ditches.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 99 Some rushy dyke to jump, or bank to climb.
1873 G. C. Davies Mountain, Meadow & Mere vi. 49 A heron sailed majestically away from a dyke.
b. Extended to any watercourse or channel, including those of natural formation. On the Humber, a navigable channel, as Goole Dike, Doncaster Dike, etc. (A local use.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > stream > [noun] > watercourse or channel
runeOE
sitchOE
pipeOE
sichetc1133
guttera1300
siket1300
sikec1330
watergate1368
gole?a1400
gotea1400
flout14..
aa1430
trough1513
guta1552
race1570
lode1572
canala1576
ditch1589
trink1592
leam1601
dike1616
runlet1630
stell1651
nullah1656
course1665
drain1700
lade1706
droke1772
regimen1797
draught1807
adit1808
sluit1818
thalweg1831
runway1874
1616 G. Markham tr. C. Estienne et al. Maison Rustique (rev. ed.) iii. i. 335 The water may haue a descent or falling away into some Brooke, Riuer, or other Dike.
1728 A. Pope Dunciad ii. 249 Thames, The King of Dykes!
1853 J. Phillips Rivers, Mountains, & Sea-coast Yorks. viii. 216 Dikes..in the low marshy grounds, the ditches, and even canals, becks, and rivers are so called.
1883 T. Lees Easther's Gloss. Dial. Almondbury & Huddersfield Dike..a watercourse or stream, as Rushfield Dyke, Fenay Bridge Dyke, Denby Dyke, all fast-flowing water.
1888 S. O. Addy Gloss. Words Sheffield Dike or dyke, a river or collection of water..The Don or Dun at Wadsley is often called ‘t' owd dyke.’
1893 Spectator 12 Aug. 213 Our sluggish East Anglian rivers, widening into ‘broads’ and ‘dykes’.
c. A water-closet or urinal. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] > water-closet or lavatory
closet1496
water closet1736
water closet1747
throne room1787
W.C.1815
netty1825
convenience1841
Johnny1847
lavabo1852
restrooma1856
small room1858
cloakroom1865
lavatory1874
bathroom1883
toilet1886
can1900
place1902
lav1913
washroom1919
head1920
lavvy1922
dike1923
smallest room1930
John1931
khazi1932
loo1940
biffy1942
Wa1953
shitcan1954
commode1958
cludgie1961
1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 104 Dike, les cabinets; to do a dike, aller aux lieux, aux gogues.
1940 M. Marples Public School Slang 112 Other synonyms [for ‘lavatories’] are rears, lats,..dykes (Oundle, 1920 +), [etc.].
1960 N. Hilliard Maori Girl 74 But the dyke's in the bathroom.
1965 G. McInnes Road to Gundagai v. 76 The outside (and only) lavatory, known locally as the dyke.
1967 J. Cleary Long Pursuit iii. 82 I learned..to respect her privacy. And I don't mean just when she went to the dike.
3. A small pond or pool. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > pond > [noun]
pound1248
pond1287
piscinaa1398
piscinea1400
stewc1440
dike1788
pondlet1839
mardle1866
tank1898
suck-hole1909
1788 W. Marshall Provincialisms E. Yorks. in Rural Econ. Yorks. II. 326 Dike,..also a puddle, or small pool of water.
1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words Dyke, 2. A small pond.
1877 F. Ross et al. Gloss. Words Holderness Dike, a ditch; in N[orth Holderness], a pond.
1889 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (ed. 2) Dyke, a natural lakelet, mere, or pond—as Shawn Dyke formerly on Brumby Common.
ΚΠ
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 281 Twen heuone hil and helle dik.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter ix. 31 He waytes in hidell as leon in his dyke.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter cxlviii. 7 Draguns ere..cumand out of þaire diks.
1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) i. xv. 11 He wyl me caste in to helle dyke.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 121/1 Dyke, fossa, fovea, antrum.
?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 799/26–29 Hec fossa, fovia, cavea, antra, a dyke.
II. An embankment, wall, causeway.
5. ‘A bank formed by throwing the earth out of the ditch’ (Bosworth).The early existence of this sense in English is doubtful: probably all the Old English quotations for which it is assumed in Bosworth-Toller, belong to 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > ditching or drainage > [noun] > ditch > edge of
dike1487
ditch1569
shore1602
talus1727
1487 Newminster Cartul. (1878) 263 An olde casten dike.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. xxix. A I wil laye sege to the rounde aboute..and graue vp dykes agaynst ye.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 203 The dyk betuene Abircorne and clyd mouth..be a noble capitane called Grame, was..douncastne..fra quhome..it is ȝit called Grames Dyke.
1787 W. Marshall Provincialisms in Rural Econ. Norfolk II. 378 Dick, the mound or bank of a ditch.
1853 J. Phillips Rivers, Mountains, & Sea-coast Yorks. viii. 215 Earthworks..constructed for defence..Such are the dike at Flamborough [etc.].
1892 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words (at cited word) There are many earth-works of ancient date which are commonly called dikes. One such is known as the ‘Black-dyke’,..there are also several Grime's dikes, or Graham's dikes on the Borders.
6. A wall or fence.† a. The wall of a city, a fortification. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > defensive walls > [noun] > wall of fortified town
wallc825
town wallc1325
dikec1400
murayc1400
face1489
curtain?a1560
antemural1614
c1400 Melayne 125 And sythen þou birne vp house and dyke.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 13 Syne forcit it with fowseis mony one, And dowbill dykes that stalwart wer of stone.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 1533 Sone he raght vpon rowme, rid vp þe dykis, Serchit vp the soile þere þe Citie was.
b. A low wall or fence of turf or stone serving as a division or enclosure.Now the regular sense in Scotland. dry-stone dyke, a wall constructed of stones without mortar, as usual on the northern moors; fail dyke, one made of sods or turf cut in squares.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > wall > low wall of turf or stone
dikec1425
stone-dike1553
snap-dyke1793
reave1848
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxxvii. 112 The mwde wall dykis þai kest all downe.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iii. l. 133 A maner dyk off stanys thai had maid.
1558 Q. Kennedy Compendius Tractiue xii. sig. F.i Ye dyik or closure of the wyne zard.
1609 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 289 For mending of the church dicke iiijd.
1650 J. Row & J. Row Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1842) 434 She..climbed up and got over the dyke in to the yaird.
1774 T. Pennant Tour Scotl. 1772 91 It was well defended by four ditches and five dikes.
1774 T. Pennant Tour Scotl. 1772 182 A great dike of loose stones.
1802 J. Home Hist. Rebellion v. 111 He came to a dry stone dyke that was in his way.
1889 J. M. Barrie Window in Thrums xv. 133 Clods of earth toppled from the garden dyke into the ditch.
c. In some dialects applied to a hedge, or a fence of any kind.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > hedge or fence
hayc725
gartha1340
tiningc1440
mound?a1500
frith1511
dike1567
sepiment1656
1567–8 in J. Raine Depositions Courts Durham (1845) 84 That she should teir a cheffe and a neckurcheffe of a dycke.
1878 W. Dickinson Gloss. Words & Phrases Cumberland (ed. 2) Dyke, deyke, a hedge.
1892 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Dike, dyke, a fence..applied alike to a hedge, a ditch, an earthen, or a stone wall when used as a fence. A dike stower is a hedge stake.
7.
a. A ridge, embankment, long mound, or dam, thrown up to resist the encroachments of the sea, or to prevent low-lying lands from being flooded by seas, rivers, or streams.Such are the dikes of Holland, and of the English coasts round the Humber and Wash.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > flood or flooding > structures protecting from water or flooding > [noun] > wall or dyke
waterwough?1340
water wall1445
digue1523
dike1642
1531–2 Act 23 Hen. VIII c. 5 §2 The walles, dyches, bankes..and other defenses by the costes of the sea.]
1642 J. Howell Instr. Forreine Travell xvi. 209 Seeing their Dikes, and draynings in the Netherlands.
1656 A. Cowley Davideis iv. 141 in Poems The main Channel of an high-swoln Flood, In vain by Dikes and broken works withstood.
a1701 H. Maundrell Journey Aleppo to Jerusalem (1703) 20 A large Dike thirty yards over at top.
1756 T. Nugent Grand Tour I. 156 The land here is lower than the waters; for which reason they have the strongest dams or dykes in the whole country.
1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xxiv. 705 The camp of Carche was protected by the lofty dykes of the river.
1832 J.-C.-L. S. de Sismondi Hist. Ital. Republics v. 107 They undertook the immense labour..of making dikes to preserve the plains from the inundation of the rivers.
b. A beavers' dam.
ΚΠ
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth IV. 164 They..are equally industrious in the erection of their lodges, as their dikes.
c. A jetty or pier running into the water. local.
ΚΠ
1789 J. Brand Hist. & Antiq. Newcastle II. 679 (note) Query, Why are staiths, in the common language of the keelmen, called dikes?
1825 E. Mackenzie Hist. View Northumberland II. 425 A pier or dike run out at the north entrance at Blyth Harbour.
d. A raised causeway.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > causeway across water or bog
causeyc1300
causewayc1440
dike1480
dam1812
gut-way1898
1480 W. Caxton Chron. Eng. xxii. (1482) 21 Two other weyes this belyn made in bossyng thurghout the land that one is callyd fosse and that other fosse dyke.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth IV. 161 This dike, or causey, is sometimes ten, and sometimes twelve feet thick at the foundation.
1843 W. H. Prescott Hist. Conquest Mexico II. iii. viii. 61 The Spaniards came on the great dike or causeway.
1892 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words (at cited word) Dikes were also frequently trackways.
8. figurative. A barrier, obstacle, or obstruction.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > [noun] > one who or that which hinders > a hindrance, impediment, or obstacle
hinderc1200
withsetting1340
obstaclec1385
traversea1393
mara1400
bayc1440
stoppagec1450
barrace1480
blocka1500
objecta1500
clog1526
stumbling-stone1526
bar1530
(to cast) a trump in (one's) way1548
stumbling-stock1548
hindrance1576
a log in one's way1579
crossbar1582
log1589
rub1589
threshold1600
scotch1601
dam1602
remora1604
obex1611
obstructiona1616
stumbling-blocka1616
fence1639
affront1642
retardance1645
stick1645
balk1660
obstruent1669
blockade1683
sprun1684
spoke1689
cross cause1696
uncomplaisance1707
barrier1712
obstruct1747
dike1770
abatis1808
underbrush1888
bunker1900
bump1909
sprag1914
hurdle1924
headwind1927
mudhole1933
monkey wrench1937
roadblock1945
1770 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xxxvi. 59 Gain a decisive victory..or..perish bravely..behind the last dyke of the prerogative.
1821 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto III xcv. 56 He there builds up a formidable dyke Between his own and others' intellect.
1833 I. Taylor Fanaticism vi. 165 If..the dyke of despotism had not bulged and gaped.
1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic I. ii. i. 250 A solid, substantial dyke against the arbitrary power which was ever chafing and fretting to destroy its barriers.
9.
a. Mining (Northumberland). A fissure in a stratum, filled up with deposited or intrusive rock; a fault.
ΚΠ
1789 J. Brand Hist. & Antiq. Newcastle II. 679 Dikes are the largest kind of fissures..a crack..of the solid strata..From the matter..between the two sides of the..dike, it is denominated a clay-dike, stone-dike, etc.
1892 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words (at cited word) Slip dikes usually contain fragments of the adjacent strata. When the dike [i.e. fault] interrupts the working of a seam of coal, it is called a down-cast dike if the continuation of the seam lies at a lower level, and an upcast dike, if it is continued at a higher level.
b. Hence, in Geology. A mass of mineral matter, usually igneous rock, filling up a fissure in the original strata, and sometimes rising from these like a mound or wall, when they have been worn down by denudation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > discontinuity or unconformity > [noun] > intrusion > dike
riba1500
dike1802
ring dyke1915
1802 J. Playfair Illustr. Huttonian Theory 67 Whin..exists..in veins (called in Scotland dykes) traversing the strata.
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. xiv. 318 Shattered and baked rocks, traversed by innumerable dykes of greenstone.
1843 J. E. Portlock Rep. Geol. Londonderry 114 A trap dike of considerable size..cuts through the chalk.
1865 D. Livingstone & C. Livingstone Narr. Exped. Zambesi ix. 185 A dyke of black basaltic rock crosses the river.
1875 C. Lyell & L. Lyell Princ. Geol. (ed. 12) I. ii. xxv. 628 The inclined strata..are intersected by veins or dikes of compact lava.
c. blue dike: see quot. 1855.
ΚΠ
1855 J. W. Dawson Acadian Geol. iii. 25 Near the edge of the upland, it [the soil] passes into a gray or bluish gray clay called ‘blue dike’, or, from the circumstance of its containing many vegetable fragments and fibres, ‘corky dike’.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive.
dike-back n.
ΚΠ
a1810 R. Tannahill Barrochan Jean in Poems (1846) 117 Around the peatstacks, and alangst the dyke-backs.
dike-bottom n.
ΚΠ
a1400–50 Alexander 712 Þat doune he drafe to þe depest of the dyke bothom.
dike cam n.
ΚΠ
1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words Dike-cam, a ditch bank. North.
dike-delver n.
ΚΠ
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby Diker or Dike-delver, a ditcher; a digger of drains.
dike-road n.
ΚΠ
1810 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) VII. 67 I request you to have the dyke roads on the island well ascertained and known.
dike-side n.
ΚΠ
1852 Meanderings of Memory I. 57 The dikeside watch when Midnight-feeders stray.
b. Instrumental.
ΚΠ
1852 Meanderings of Memory I. 15 Dyke-cloistered Taddington, of cold intense.
C2. † dike-row n. Obsolete a row of trees bordering a field.
dike-hopper n. the wheatear.
dike-louper n. Scottish a person or animal (e.g. an ox or sheep) that leaps over fences; figurative a transgressor of the laws of morality.
ΚΠ
1559 D. Lindsay Test. Papyngo l. 992 in Wks. (1931) I Now dyke lowparis dois in the kirk resort.
dike-phase n. (in sense 9b see quots.).
ΚΠ
1909 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 65 642 In our district..the main dyke-phase intervenes between the uprise of the Cruachan and the Starav Granites.
1954 G. W. Himus Dict. Geol. 44 Dyke phase, the closing episode in a volcanic cycle, characterized by the injection of minor intrusions, especially dykes.
dike-rock n.
ΚΠ
1896 Science Progress IV. 476 A..difference of opinion exists as to the propriety of establishing an intermediate division between the plutonic and the volcanic types of struture. Such a division is roughly represented by the ‘dyke-rocks’ of Rosenbusch.
1903 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. (ed. 4) I. ii. ii. 197 Professor Rosenbusch [in Mikrosk. und Physiogr. d. Massingen Gesteine (ed. 2, 1887) II. 277]..groups the igneous rocks in three great sections: 1st, the deep-seated rocks..; 2nd, dyke-rocks (Gang-gesteine), which may have been injected as dykes and veins at a less distance from the surface (hypabyssal) [etc.].
1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. xi. 167/2 Alkalic dyke-rock material which occurs in the alluvium of New River.
ΚΠ
1664 H. Spelman Glossarium at Thenecium Arbores crescentes circa agros pro clausura eorum. Volgo dicimus Dike rowes.
Categories »
dike-seam n. a seam or bed of coal worked nearly on end (dialect).
dike-swarm n.
ΚΠ
1909 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 65 646 A suggestion as to the relationship of the dyke-swarms to this focus.
1960 L. D. Stamp Britain's Struct. & Scenery (ed. 5) ix. 79 Into these cracks molten rock forced its way so that dykes were formed, so numerous that the expression ‘dyke swarm’ is often used.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
diken.2v.2
/dʌɪk/, U.S. /daɪk/ U.S. slang or colloquial.
(See quots.)
ΚΠ
1851 B. H. Hall Coll. College Words 100 At the University of Virginia, one who is dressed with more than ordinary elegance is said to be diked out.
1871 M. S. De Vere Americanisms 597 Dike, denoting a man in full dress, or merely the dress, is a peculiar American cant term as yet unexplained. To be out on a dike is said of persons, mainly young men, who are dressed more carefully than usual, in order to pay visits or to attend a party.
1899 B. W. Green Word-bk. Virginia Folk-speech 115 Dike, to dress fine. ‘You are diked up to-day.’
1902 S. Clapin New Dict. Amer. 159 Dike, to attire oneself faultlessly for social purposes. Diked out, to be dressed up, with connotation of being in one's best clothes.
1923 M. Watts Luther Nichols 62 All right for you..comin' round here all diked out like Sunday.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
dikev.1
/dʌɪk/, U.S. /daɪk/ 1. intransitive. To make a dike, ditch, or excavation; to dig.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > earth-moving, etc. > [verb (intransitive)] > make ditch
dike1377
ditch1377
c900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (1890) i. ix. §3 46 Þær Seuerus se casere iu het dician and eorþwall gewyrcan.]
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. v. 552 I dyke and I delue, I do þat treuthe hoteth.
14.. in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 579/43 Effodio, to dyke, or delve.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 538 He wolde..dyke and delue For Cristes sake, for euery poure wight.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 121/1 Dyken, or make a dyke, fosso.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope 2 b He sente hym..to dyke and delve in the erthe.
c1530 Ploughman & Paternoster in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) I. 43 He cowde..dyke, hedge, and mylke a cowe.
1570 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandry (new ed.) f. 11 When frost will not suffer to dyke nor to hedge.
1892 S. A. Brooke Hist. Early Eng. Lit. ix. 202 Men at work dyking and delving, ploughing and clodding.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > earth-moving, etc. > [verb (transitive)] > make trench or ditch
groopc1330
dikea1375
pot1595
grip1597
gripe1597
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 2233 Þei saie..a semliche quarrere..al holwe newe diked.
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. xxii. 365 To delue and dike a deop diche.
3. transitive. To provide with a dike or dikes, in various senses.
a. To surround with dikes or trenches; to entrench.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > protect or surround with rampart [verb (transitive)] > protect or surround with trenches
ditch13..
dikec1330
entrench1548
trench1548
re-entrencha1595
inditch1598
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 272 Now dos Edward dike Berwik brode and long, Als þei bad him pike, and scorned him in þer song.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) ix. 35 It es wele walled all aboute and dyked [Fr. fermez entour ad bonz fossez].
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 271 [He] gert dik [1489 Adv. dyk] thame so stalwardly.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vi. iv. 6 A dirk and profound cave..Quhilk was weil dekkit and closit for the nanys With a fowle layk.
a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1710) I. 31 A praty Pile or Castelet wel dikid, now usid for a Prison.
1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions Pref. 8 [They]..diked in themselues.
b. To enclose with an earthen or stone wall. Scottish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > enclose [verb (transitive)] > enclose with a wall
wall1297
mure?a1425
upwallc1440
enwall1523
dikec1575
immure1605
circle-mure1606
circummurea1616
immurala1680
c1575 J. Balfour Practicks (1754) 145 (Jam.) And dike and park the samin surelie and keip thame sikkerlie.
1774 T. Pennant Tour Scotl. 1772 336 A fortress diked round with stone.
c. To defend with a dike or embankment against the sea or river; in quot. 1813 absol.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > embankment or dam > [verb (transitive)] > defend with embankment
dikea1687
a1687 W. Petty Polit. Arithm. (1691) i. 14 In the Marshes, Impassible ground Diked and Trenched.
1807 J. Barlow Columbiad iv. 162 Quay the calm ports and dike the lawns I lave.
1813 W. Scott Let. 10 Jan. (1932) II. 223 I have been..dyking against the river.
1862 G. P. Marsh Lect. Eng. Lang. (new ed.) 50 The low lands, subject to overflow by the German Ocean..were not diked.
4. To clean out, scour (a ditch or watercourse).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > ditching or drainage > ditch [verb (transitive)] > clean ditch
dike1519
ditch1576
didlea1825
rit1825
neck1844
1519 Presentments of Juries in Surtees Misc. (1890) 31 All watter-sewers..be dykid and scoried.
1562 Act 5 Eliz. c. 13 §7 The Heyes, Fences, Dikes or Hedges..shall from Time to Time be diked, scoured, repaired and kept low.
5. To place (flax or hemp) in a dike or watercourse to steep.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with other materials > work with other materials [verb (transitive)] > processes in working with flax or hemp
reta1325
rot1670
water ret1766
dike1799
water rot1843
1799 A. Young Gen. View Agric. County Lincoln 164 Pull it the beginning of August..Bind and dyke it: leave it in about ten days.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1847
n.2v.21851v.1c1330