dike

¹dike

noun \ˈdīk\

Definition of DIKE

1

: an artificial watercourse : ditch

2

a : a bank usually of earth constructed to control or confine water : levee b : a barrier preventing passage especially of something undesirable

3

a : a raised causeway b : a tabular body of igneous rock that has been injected while molten into a fissure

Examples of DIKE

1. <an elaborate system of dikes built to protect the lowlands from the relentless onslaught of the sea>
2. <water flowed along the dike to the small pond>

Origin of DIKE

Middle English, probably from Old Norse dīk ditch and Middle Low German dīk dam; akin to Old English dīc ditch — more at ditch

First Known Use: 13th century

Related to DIKE

Synonyms: dam, embankment, head, levee

Related Words: breakwater, jetty, seawall; breastwork, bulwark, earthwork, rampart; canal, channel, ditch, gutter, trough; lock; barricade, barrier, block; floodgate, sluice; barrage, milldam, stank [British], weir

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Other Civil Engineering Terms

asphalt, ballast, barrage, cantilever, infrastructure, sluice

Rhymes with DIKE

bike, fyke, haik, hike, like, mike, pike, psych, shrike, sike, spike, strike, trike, tyke