Adjacent Words

Dike definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DIKE, n. [G. See Dig. It is radically the same word as ditch, and this is its primary sense; but by an easy transition, it came to signify also the bank formed by digging and throwing up earth. Intrenchment is sometimes used both for a ditch and a rampart.]
1. A ditch; an excavation made in the earth by digging, of greater length than breadth, intended as a reservoir of water, a drain, or for other purpose.
2. A mound of earth, of stones, or of other materials, intended to prevent low lands, from being inundated by the sea or a river. The low countries of Holland are thus defended by dikes.
3. A vein of basalt, greenstone or other stony substance.
DIKE, v.t. To surround with a dike; to secure by a bank.
DIKE, v.i. To dig. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (slang) offensive term for a lesbian who is noticeably masculine [syn: butch, dike, dyke]
2: a barrier constructed to contain the flow of water or to keep out the sea [syn: dam, dike, dyke] v
1: enclose with a dike; "dike the land to protect it from water" [syn: dike, dyke]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, probably from Old Norse d?k ditch and Middle Low German d?k dam; akin to Old English d?c ditch — more at ditch Date: 13th century 1. an artificial watercourse ; ditch 2. a. a bank usually of earth constructed to control or confine water ; levee b. a barrier preventing passage especially of something undesirable 3. a. a raised causeway b. a tabular body of igneous rock that has been injected while molten into a fissure II. transitive verb (diked; diking) Date: 14th century 1. to surround or protect with a dike 2. to drain by a dike • diker noun III. variant of dyke

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. var. of DYKE(1). 2. var. of DYKE(2).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dike Dike, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Diked; p. pr. & vb. n. Diking.] [OE. diken, dichen, AS. d[=i]cian to dike. See Dike.] 1. To surround or protect with a dike or dry bank; to secure with a bank. 2. To drain by a dike or ditch.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dike Dike, v. i. To work as a ditcher; to dig. [Obs.] He would thresh and thereto dike and delve. --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dike Dike, n. [OE. dic, dike, diche, ditch, AS. d?c dike, ditch; akin to D. dijk dike, G. deich, and prob. teich pond, Icel. d?ki dike, ditch, Dan. dige; perh. akin to Gr. ? (for ?) wall, and even E. dough; or perh. to Gr. ? pool, marsh. Cf. Ditch.] 1. A ditch; a channel for water made by digging. Little channels or dikes cut to every bed. --Ray. 2. An embankment to prevent inundations; a levee. Dikes that the hands of the farmers had raised . . . Shut out the turbulent tides. --Longfellow. 3. A wall of turf or stone. [Scot.] 4. (Geol.) A wall-like mass of mineral matter, usually an intrusion of igneous rocks, filling up rents or fissures in the original strata.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

see dyke

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

di'-ke (dike, "justice"): The avenging justice of God personified as a goddess (Ac 28:4). See JUSTICE.

Moby Thesaurus

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