Words / B2

DICH/dɪtʃ/

A ditch is a long narrow channel dug at the side of a field or road; as a verb (informal), to abandon: a drainage ditch; ditch the plan. Trench is deeper; drain is related. Map the drainage ditch on the OS extract, then the flood risk. Mix-up: ditch vs pitch; which; do not write ditch as slang in a formal write-up unless the source is informal.

Meaning

A long narrow channel dug at the side of a field or road; as a verb (informal), to abandon.

Examples

• “Map the drainage ditch on the OS extract, then the flood risk, not a slang caption.”
• “The party ditched the clause, the minutes said, which is the informal-abandon sense — still name the motion.”

Good to know

a drainage / roadside ditch; last-ditch; ditch + noun (informal). Close: trench / drain. Trap: pitch. Geography and news. A drainage channel, or (informal) to abandon — map the channel; keep slang out of formal prose.

Near in meaning

trench, gully, abandon

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