I. ˈdəch adjective
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Middle English Duch, Duche, from Middle Dutch duutsch, dūtsch, from a prehistoric East Germanic-West Germanic compound (represented also by Old English thēodisc gentile, Old Saxon thiudisk, Old High German thiutisc, diutisc German, Gothic thiudisko gentile) whose components are akin to Old Saxon thioda people and Old Saxon -isk -ish; akin to Old English thēod people, retainers, gentiles, Old High German diot people, Gothic thiuda, Old Norse thjōth, Old Irish tuath people, Oscan touto city, Old Prussian tauto land, Latvian tauta people
1.
a. archaic : of or relating to the Germanic peoples of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Low Countries
b. : of or relating to the Netherlands or its inhabitants
c.
[influenced in meaning by German deutsch, from Old High German thiutisc, diutisc ]
slang : german 1b
2.
a. archaic
(1) : of, relating to, or in any of the Germanic languages of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Low Countries
(2) : german 2
b. : of, relating to, or in the Dutch language
c. : of, relating to, or in Afrikaans
3.
[influenced in meaning by Pennsylvania German deitsch German, from Old High German thiutisc, diutisc ]
: of or relating to the Pennsylvania Dutch or their language
4. of a meal : served buffet style
II. noun
Etymology: Middle English Duche, from Duche, adjective
1. -es capitalized
a. archaic
(1) : any of the Germanic languages of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Low Countries — compare high german , low german
(2) : german 2
b. : the Germanic language of the majority of the inhabitants of the Netherlands and the northern half of Belgium — see flemish
c. : afrikaans
2. plural in construction , capitalized
a. archaic : the Germanic peoples of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Low Countries
b. archaic : german 1
c. : the people of the Netherlands, principally of Frankish, Frisian, and Saxon origin
3. -es capitalized
[Pennsylvania German deitsch German, from Old High German thiutisc, diutisc ]
: pennsylvania dutch
4. -es usually capitalized , slang : dander
the fighting tone he used indicated that the President's Dutch is up — Newsweek
5. -es usually capitalized : disfavor , wrong , trouble — used with in
the story is accurate, but its publication put me in Dutch with the composer in question — Nicolas Slonimsky
every time he got in Dutch — J.T.Farrell
6. usually capitalized : a breed of small rabbits developed in the Netherlands with white blaze, collar, chest, and feet
III. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Usage: sometimes capitalized
Etymology: Dutch (I)
1. : to clean and harden (a quill) for use as a pen especially by plunging in hot sand
2. : to miscalculate in placing (a series of bets) so as to have a mathematical expectancy of losing rather than winning
the man had dutched his book, as clumsy operators sometimes did in their haste to take bets — Newsweek
IV. adverb
Usage: sometimes capitalized
Etymology: Dutch (I)
: with each person treating himself or paying his own way
they went dutch on the check — Truman Capote
a candidate may drink dutch or even accept drinks from constituents — Time
V. noun
( -es )
Etymology: probably by shortening & alteration from duchess
slang Britain : wife — now used as a term of affection