dike

See also: Dike, Dikê, dikë, Dikē, and dyke

English

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

Noun

dike (plural dikes)

1. (chiefly US) Alternative form of dyke: ditch; embankment; waterway; etc.

Verb

dike (third-person singular simple present dikes, present participle diking, simple past and past participle diked)

1. (chiefly US) Alternative form of dyke: to dig a ditch; to raise an earthwork; etc.
   • {quote-journal|en|date=1996 September 27|author=Michael Miner|url=https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/Archive/abridged2.bat?path=1996/960927/HOTTYPE%7Ctitle=WVON Won't Take the Bait|work=The Chicago Reader|text=Lakeside water-filtration plants, an 11,000-acre diked airport east of 55th Street, slash-and-bulldoze highway projects through Jackson and Lincoln parks—these and many another grandiose project leapt from the sketchbooks of city planners.}}
   • {quote-book|en|date=2001 November 16, Karen F. Schmidt|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/294/5546/1444%7Cdoi=10.1126/science.294.5546.1444%7Ctitle=Ecology: A True-Blue Vision for the Danube|work=Science|volume=294|issue=5546|pages=1444-1447|text=In 1983, dictator Nicolae Ceausescu decreed that the Romanian Danube delta, one of Europe's largest wetlands, be diked for growing rice and maize.}}

Etymology 2

Of uncertain etymology, first attested in mid-19th century Virginia. Possibly a variant of deck and deck out or influenced by them.

Verb

dike (third-person singular simple present dikes, present participle diking, simple past and past participle diked)

1. (US dialect slang, obsolete) To be well dressed.

Derived terms

• diked out
• diked up

Noun

dike (plural dikes)

1. (US dialect slang, obsolete) A well-dressed man.
2. (US dialect slang, obsolete) Formalwear or other fashionable dress.

Derived terms

• out on a dike

Etymology 3

See dyke.

Noun

dike (plural dikes)

1. Alternative form of dyke: (slang, usually derogatory) a masculine woman; a lesbian.

References

• Oxford English Dictionary. "dike, n.² and v.²".
• Oxford English Dictionary. "dike | dyke, n.³".

Anagrams

• IDEK, idek

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Esperanto

Adverb

dike

1. thickly

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Lindu

Noun

dike

1. dog

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Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse díki, from Proto-Germanic *dīkiją, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (whence also English ditch).

Noun

dike n

1. ditch; a small canal, for irrigation or drainage

   Han körde i diket med sin nya bil.

   He went off the road with (ditched) his new car.

Usage notes

• The phrase "köra i diket" (to ditch) is used also when there's no ditch.

Declension

Declension of dike
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	dike	diket	diken	dikena
Genitive	dikes	dikets	dikens	dikenas

Related terms

• dika
• dika ut
• dikesgrävning
• dikeskant
• dikeskörning
• dikesren
• dikning
• köra i diket
• täckdike
• utdikning

References

• dike in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)