ditch / dich/ • n. a narrow channel dug in the ground, typically used for drainage alongside a road or the edge of a field.• v. [tr.] 1. provide with ditches: he was praised for ditching the coastal areas. ∎  [intr.] make or repair ditches: [as n.] (ditching) they would have to pay for hedging and ditching. 2. inf. get rid of; give up: it crossed her mind to ditch her shoes and run | plans for the road were ditched following a public inquiry. ∎ inf. end a relationship with (someone) peremptorily; abandon: she ditched her husband to marry the window cleaner. ∎ inf. be truant from (school or another obligation): maybe she could ditch school and run away.3. inf. bring (an aircraft) down on water in an emergency: he was picked up by a frigate after ditching his plane in the Mediterranean. ∎  [intr.] (of an aircraft) make a forced landing on water: the aircraft was obliged to ditch in the sea off the North African coast. ∎  derail (a train).DERIVATIVES: ditch·er n.

ditch long narrow excavation OE.; (dial.) embankment, dike XVI. OE. dīċ, corr. to OS. dīk (Du. dijk), MHG. tīch (G. teich pond, pool), ON. díki ditch, DIKE; of unkn. orig.
Hence ditch vb. surround with a ditch, dig ditches in XIV; (orig. U.S.) throw into a ditch XIX; not repr. OE. dīcian dig, make an embankment.

ditch. See dike.