n. & v.
--n.
1. a long narrow excavated channel esp. for drainage or to mark a boundary.
2 a watercourse, stream, etc.
--v.
1. intr. make or repair ditches (hedging and ditching).
2 tr. provide with ditches; drain.
3 tr. sl. leave in the lurch; abandon.
4 tr. colloq. a bring (an aircraft) down on the sea in an emergency. b drive (a vehicle) into a ditch.
5 intr. colloq. (of an aircraft) make a forced landing on the sea.
6 tr. sl. defeat; frustrate.
7 tr. US derail (a train).
Phrases and idioms:
ditch-water stagnant water in a ditch. dull as ditch-water extremely dull. last ditch a place of final desperate defence (fight to the last ditch).
Derivatives:
ditcher n.
Etymology: OE dic, of unkn. orig.: cf. DIKE(1)