DIKE, noun [G. See Dig. It is radically the same word as ditch, and this is its primary sense; but by an easy transition, it came to signify also the bank formed by digging and throwing up earth. Intrenchment is sometimes used both for a ditch and a rampart.]

1. A ditch; an excavation made in the earth by digging, of greater length than breadth, intended as a reservoir of water, a drain, or for other purpose.

2. A mound of earth, of stones, or of other materials, intended to prevent low lands, from being inundated by the sea or a river. The low countries of Holland are thus defended by dikes.

3. A vein of basalt, greenstone or other stony substance.

DIKE, verb transitive To surround with a dike; to secure by a bank.

DIKE, verb intransitive To dig. [Not in use.]