[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/ditch/)

[dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [D](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/d/) / ditch

# ditch

noun (ditch, ditches); verb (ditch, ditches, ditched, ditching)

«ditch» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A ditch is a long narrow hole dug in the ground, often along a road or field for water. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/ditch/#m1)
2. To ditch something is to get rid of it or leave it (informal). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/ditch/#m2)
3. To ditch a plane is to land it on water in an emergency. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/ditch/#m3)

### In the lessons

a length that is dug; metres dug each day, how long it takes a team; in farming ditches carry rainwater away from fields; in safety: a ditch by a road can be deep and full of water; phrases: «dig a ditch», «a last-ditch try» (a final try when all else failed)

### Examples

- They dig a ditch 60 metres long. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/ditch/#x1)
- Each day they dig 12 metres of the ditch. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/ditch/#x2)
- How many days to finish the ditch? [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/ditch/#x3)
- 2 workers dig the ditch together. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/ditch/#x4)
- The car slid off the icy road into a ditch. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/ditch/#x5)
- Frogs live in the muddy ditch by the field. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/ditch/#x6)
- He ditched his old bike and bought a new one. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/ditch/#x7)
- Rainwater runs along the ditch into the stream. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/ditch/#x8)
- Caw! caw! a crow flew up from the ditch. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/ditch/#x9)

### Note

Length ÷ length per day gives the days. A work problem: more workers usually means fewer days. Plural: ditches. «Ditch» as a verb is informal (ditch a plan = drop it).

## In Jewish tradition

It means a pit or trench, and in the Bible it often stands for a trap or a place of filth.

**Interpretation.** Proverbs warns that a harlot is a deep ditch, and the psalm shows the wicked falling into their own pit, which the tradition reads as wrongdoing trapping its doer.

### Examples

- Yet wilt Thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. (Writings JOB.9.31, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/D/ditch/#x1)
- For a harlot is a deep ditch; and an alien woman is a narrow pit. (Writings PRO.23.27, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/D/ditch/#x2)
- He hath digged a pit, and hollowed it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. (Writings PSA.7.16, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/D/ditch/#x3)

### Note

Length ÷ length per day gives the days. A work problem: more workers usually means fewer days. Plural: ditches. «Ditch» as a verb is informal (ditch a plan = drop it).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «ditch» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/ditch/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«ditch» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/ditch.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «ditch» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/D/ditch/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«ditch» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/ditch.html) on Mova free.