I. noun
or dyke ˈdīk
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English dīc ditch, dike; akin to Middle High German tīch pond, dike, Old Norse dīki swamp, ditch, Latin figere to fasten, pierce, Lithuanian diegti to prick
1.
a. : an artificial watercourse (as for drainage)
b. now dialect Britain : any natural or artificial watercourse
Thames, the king of dikes — Alexander Pope
c. : pool , pond
2.
a. dialect Britain : a wall or fence of turf or stone
b. : a bank usually of earth constructed to control or confine water : levee
the dikes of Holland prevent the sea from flooding the land
c. : a barrier preventing passage especially protecting against or excluding something undesirable
the legions were a dike against the barbarian hordes
3.
a. dialect Britain : a bank of earth thrown up from a ditch
b. : a raised causeway
c.
[so called from its standing up like a wall in places where the material that once surrounded it has been eroded away]
: a tabular body of igneous rock that has been injected while molten into a fissure — see composite dike
II. verb
or dyke “
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English diken, from dike, n.
transitive verb
: to surround or protect with a dike ; also : to drain by a dike or ditch
intransitive verb
: to work as a ditcher : dig : work at making a dike
III. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: perhaps alteration of deck (II)
chiefly Midland : to dress in fine clothes — usually used with out or up
all diked out for the party
IV.
variant of dyke herein