DYKE

dam, dike, dyke

(noun) a barrier constructed to contain the flow of water or to keep out the sea

butch, dike, dyke

(noun) (slang) offensive term for a lesbian who is noticeably masculine

dike, dyke

(verb) enclose with a dike; “dike the land to protect it from water”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Proper noun

Dyke (countable and uncountable, plural Dykes)

A village in Lincolnshire, England.

A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Dyke is the 6704^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 5037 individuals. Dyke is most common among White (90.51%) individuals.

Anagrams

• E.D. Ky.

Etymology 1

Noun

dyke (plural dykes) (British spelling)

(historical) A long, narrow hollow dug from the ground to serve as a boundary marker.

A long, narrow hollow dug from the ground to conduct water.

(dialect) Any navigable watercourse.

(dialect) Any watercourse.

(dialect) Any small body of water.

(obsolete) Any hollow dug into the ground.

(now, chiefly, Australia, slang) A place to urinate and defecate: an outhouse or lavatory.

An embankment formed by the creation of a ditch.

(obsolete) A city wall.

(now, chiefly, Scotland) A low embankment or stone wall serving as an enclosure and boundary marker.

(dialect) Any fence or hedge.

An earthwork raised to prevent inundation of low land by the sea or flooding rivers.

(figuratively) Any impediment, barrier, or difficulty.

A beaver's dam.

(dialect) A jetty; a pier.

A raised causeway.

(dialect, mining) A fissure in a rock stratum filled with intrusive rock; a fault.

(geology) A body of rock (usually igneous) originally filling a fissure but now often rising above the older stratum as it is eroded away.

Synonyms

• (long, narrow excavation): ditch, trench, fosse

• (small body of water): puddle, pond, pool, lakelet, mere

• (any hollow): den, cave, hole, pit

• (any embankment): bank, embankment, earthwork

• (barrier of stone or earth): bank, embankment, dam, levee, breakwater, floodwall, seawall

Verb

dyke (third-person singular simple present dykes, present participle dyking, simple past and past participle dyked)

(transitive or intransitive) To dig, particularly to create a ditch.

(transitive) To surround with a ditch, to entrench.

(transitive, Scotland) To surround with a low dirt or stone wall.

(transitive or intransitive) To raise a protective earthwork against a sea or river.

(transitive) To scour a watercourse.

(transitive) To steep [fibers] within a watercourse.

Etymology 2

Noun

dyke (plural dykes)

(slang, usually pejorative) A lesbian, particularly one with masculine or butch traits or behavior.

Usage notes

This term for a lesbian is often derogatory (or taken as such) when used by heterosexuals but is also used by some lesbians to refer to themselves positively. See reclaimed word and reappropriation for discussion.

Synonyms

• See female homosexual

Anagrams

• E.D. Ky.

Source: Wiktionary

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Dyke, n.

Definition: See Dike. The spelling dyke is restricted by some to the geological meaning.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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