ditch
/dɪt͡ʃ/ verb C2- To discard or abandon; to stop associating with (someone). · Once the sun came out we ditched our rain-gear and started a campfire.· Why did you ditch your last boyfriend? He was so nice to you.
- To deliberately crash-land an airplane on water. · When the second engine failed, the pilot was forced to ditch; their last location was just south of the Azores.
- To deliberately not attend classes; to play hookey. · The truant officer caught Louise ditching with her friends, and her parents were forced to pay a fine.
- To dig ditches. · Enclosure led to fuller winter employment in hedging and ditching.
- To dig ditches around. · The soldiers ditched the tent to prevent flooding.
- To throw into a ditch. · The engine was ditched and turned on its side.
He/she/it ditches · Past ditched · Past participle ditched · -ing form ditching
Verb forms
- Base form
- ditch
- He/she/it
- ditches
- Past
- ditched
- Past participle
- ditched
- -ing form
- ditching
Phrasal verbs and expressions
From the library
They had hardly been walking an hour when they saw before them a great ditch that crossed the road and divided the forest as far as they could see on either side.
It was a very wide ditch, and when they crept up to the edge and looked into it they could see it was also very deep, and there were many big, jagged rocks at the bottom.
Neither can we climb down into this great ditch.
They were all greatly pleased to see how easily he did it, and after the Scarecrow had got down from his back the Lion sprang across the ditch again.
Other matches
Learn ditch in real texts
With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.