dike

1 a bank of earth constructed to control water an elaborate system of dikes built to protect the lowlands from the relentless onslaught of the sea Synonyms dam, embankment, head, leveeRelated Words breakwater, jetty, seawall; breastwork, bulwark, earthwork, rampart; canal, channel, ditch, gutter, trough; lock; barricade, barrier, block; floodgate, sluice; barrage, milldam, stank [British], weir

2 a long narrow channel dug in the earth water flowed along the dike to the small pond Synonyms ditch, fosse (or foss), gutter, sheugh [chiefly Scottish], trench, troughRelated Words acequia [Southwest], culvert, drain, draw, gully (also gulley), ravine; drill, furrow; ha-ha, moat, stank [British dialect], sunk fence; kennel