dike

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

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (UK, US) /daɪk/

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪk

Etymology 1

From Northern Middle English dik and dike (“ditch”), from Old Norse díki (“ditch”). Influenced by Middle Dutch dijc (“ditch; dam”) and Middle Low German dīk (“dam”). See also ditch.

Noun

dike (plural dikes)

1. US standard spelling of dyke.
   • 1994, John H. Makin, Norman J. Ornstein, Debt and Taxes: How America Got into Its Budget Mess and What We Can Do about It, New York, NY: Times Books, →ISBN, page 52:

     In 1574, the duke of Alva laid siege to Leiden to gain control of Holland's most beautiful and prosperous city. To relieve the siege, William of Orange and his followers opened the city's protective dikes to flush out—literally—the surrounding Spanish forces.

   • 2007, Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society, page 262:

     Holland claimed most of its land from the sea, you know. Dikes and polders, my boy!

Derived terms

• dikage
• dikelet
• diker
• dikeside
• fill-dike
• finger in a dike

Verb

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

1. US standard spelling of dyke.
   • 1996 September 27, Michael Miner, “WVON Won't Take the Bait”, in The Chicago Reader‎^[1]:

     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.

   • 2001 November 16, Karen F. Schmidt, “Ecology: A True-Blue Vision for the Danube”, in Science‎^[2], volume 294, number 5546, →DOI, pages 1444–1447:

     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. Alternative form of deck: (US dialect slang, obsolete) A well-dressed man.

   Synonyms: dapperling, macaroni, toff; see also Thesaurus:dandy

2. (US dialect slang, obsolete) Formalwear or other fashionable dress.
3. Alternative form of dyke, Alternative form of deck: (slang, usually derogatory) a masculine woman; a lesbian.

Derived terms

• out on a dike

Etymology 3

Contraction of diagonal +‎ cutters.

Verb

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

1. (technical, slang) To cut or remove using dikes.

Derived terms

• dike out

Noun

dike (plural dikes)

1. (technical, slang) Contraction of diagonal cutters.
   • 2003 December 29, The Jargon File‎^[3]:

     “The word ‘dikes’ is widely used to mean ‘diagonal cutters’, a kind of wire cutter.”

   • 2026 May 1, 4" Mini Dipped Handle Diagonal Pliers - Crescent Tools‎^[4]:

     “They are most commonly referred to as wire cutters, side cutters, dikes or dykes within the US electrical industry […] ”

References

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

Anagrams

• e-kid, IDEK, idek

Esperanto

Etymology

Etymology tree

Esperanto dika

Proto-Italic *-ēd

Old Latin -ēd

Latin -ebor.

Russian -е (-e)influ.

▲

Polish -einflu.

Czech -einflu.

Esperanto -e

Esperanto dike

From dika + -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdike/
• Rhymes: -ike
• Syllabification: di‧ke

Adverb

dike

1. thickly

Related terms

adjectives

• dika
• diketa
• harmaldika
• maldika
• maldikega
• trodika

adverbs

• maldike

nouns

• dikaĵo
• dikeco
• diko
• dikulino
• dikulo
• maldikeco
• tavoldiko
• trodikeco

verbs

• dikigi
• dikiĝi
• maldikigi
• maldikiĝi

Further reading

• “dike”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN

Lindu

Noun

dike

1. dog

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse díki, from Proto-Germanic *dīkiją, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ-. Cognate with English dike, 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

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	dike	dikes
	definite	diket	dikets
plural	indefinite	diken	dikens
	definite	dikena	dikenas

Related terms

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

References

• “dike”, in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker [Dictionaries of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish dique, from Dutch dijk.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈdike/ [ˈd̪iː.x̠ɛ]
• Rhymes: -ike
• Syllabification: di‧ke

Noun

dike (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜒᜃᜒ)

1. dike (US); dyke

   Synonyms: saplad, prinsa

Derived terms

• dikehan

Further reading

• “dike”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018