: a long narrow excavation dug in the earth (as for drainage)
ditched; ditching; ditches
1
a
: to surround with a long narrow cavity in the earth : to enclose with a ditch (see ditch entry 1)
The pasture was hedged and ditched.
b
: to dig a ditch in
2
aviation
: to make a forced landing of (an airplane) on water
successfully ditched the plane
Synonyms
Examples of ditch in a Sentence
Noun
He drove the car into the ditch.
after skidding on the ice, our car went right into the ditch
Verb
The thief ditched the purse in an alley.
They ditched the car in a vacant lot.
They ditched me at the concert.
Recent Examples on the Web
Josh Holder, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2024
On the night of his disappearance, Edberg’s pickup truck was found in a ditch near Interstates 694 and 35 with its lights off and doors locked.
—Mara H. Gottfried, Twin Cities, 15 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for ditch 
Noun
The defensive lines only include larger fortifications, such as long anti-tank ditches, and do not include smaller defenses like infantry trenches.
—Josh Holder, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2024
On the night of his disappearance, Edberg’s pickup truck was found in a ditch near Interstates 694 and 35 with its lights off and doors locked.
—Mara H. Gottfried, Twin Cities, 15 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for ditch
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ditch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near ditch
Cite this Entry
“Ditch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ditch. Accessed 4 May. 2024.
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