dyke 1
/duyk/ , n. , v. , dyked, dyking .
dike 1 .
dyke 2
— dykey , adj.
/duyk/ , n. Slang (disparaging and offensive).
a female homosexual; lesbian.
Also, dike .
[ 1940-45; earlier in form bulldike (with a var. bulldagger ); of obscure orig.; claimed to be a shortening of morphodyke (var. of MORPHODITE, a reshaping of HERMAPHRODITE), though morphodyke is more likely a b. morphodite and a pre-existing dyke; other hypothesized connections, such as with diked out or dike "ditch," are dubious on semantic grounds ]