ditch

noun

/dɪtʃ/

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a long channel dug at the side of a field or road, to hold or take away water
- The car left the road and ended up in a ditch.
Extra Examples
- I tripped and fell into a muddy ditch.
- The ditch ran parallel to the road.
- The drainage system consisted of a few open ditches to facilitate run-off.
- The lettuce beds are surrounded by a deep ditch.
- Farm drainage ditches ensure that water runs directly into streams.
- The car went out of control and plunged into a ditch.
Topics Transport by car or lorryc1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- deep
- wide
- shallow
- …
verb + ditch
- dig
ditch + verb
- run
- surround something
preposition
- in a ditch
- into a ditch
See full entry
Word OriginOld English dīc, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dijk ‘ditch, dyke’ and German Teich ‘pond, pool’, also to dyke, in its geographical sense.

ditch

verb

/dɪtʃ/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they ditch	/dɪtʃ/ /dɪtʃ/
he / she / it ditches	/ˈdɪtʃɪz/ /ˈdɪtʃɪz/
past simple ditched	/dɪtʃt/ /dɪtʃt/
past participle ditched	/dɪtʃt/ /dɪtʃt/
-ing form ditching	/ˈdɪtʃɪŋ/ /ˈdɪtʃɪŋ/

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[transitive] ditch something/somebody (informal) to get rid of something/somebody because you no longer want or need it/them
- The new road building programme has been ditched.
- He ditched his girlfriend.
[transitive, intransitive] ditch (something) if a pilot ditches an aircraft, or if it ditches, it lands in the sea in an emergencyTopics Transport by airc2
[transitive] ditch school (North American English, informal) to stay away from school without permissionTopics Educationc2

Word OriginOld English dīc, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dijk ‘ditch, dyke’ and German Teich ‘pond, pool’, also to dyke, in its geographical sense.