ditch

Everyday

1. A ditch is a long narrow hole dug in the ground, often along a road or field for water. tree →
2. To ditch something is to get rid of it or leave it (informal). tree →
3. To ditch a plane is to land it on water in an emergency. tree →

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 →
• Each day they dig 12 metres of the ditch. tree →
• How many days to finish the ditch? tree →
• 2 workers dig the ditch together. tree →
• The car slid off the icy road into a ditch. tree →
• Frogs live in the muddy ditch by the field. tree →
• He ditched his old bike and bought a new one. tree →
• Rainwater runs along the ditch into the stream. tree →
• Caw! caw! a crow flew up from the ditch. tree →

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 →
• For a harlot is a deep ditch; and an alien woman is a narrow pit. (Writings PRO.23.27, JPS 1917) tree →
• He hath digged a pit, and hollowed it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. (Writings PSA.7.16, JPS 1917) tree →

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).