DITCHES

Definition: DITCHES

DITCHES

Plural

1. Of Ditch

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Date "DITCHES" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1350. (references)

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	Dig ditches! (Singin' in the Rain; writing credit: Betty Comden; Adolph Green)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Ditches Stumps and Boulders (reference) Dogtown & ditches : life on the Westside (reference) From ditches to discipleship (reference) Get Your Education or You'll Be Digging Ditches for the Rest of Your Life (reference) Oxidation Ditches in Wastewater Treatment (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Weed-choked irrigation ditches result in sluggish streams. Such environments may contain larvae of Culex tarsalis and Anopheles punctipennis. Credit: CDC.		Sediment laden runoff floods drainage ditches following a brief storm. Credit: Tim McCabe.
	Constructed drainage ditch in north-central Iowa. Drainage districts were formed in the 1900's to build and maintain such major drainage ditches to allow better drainage of croplands. Credit: Lynn Betts.		Sanitary engineering : Digging drainage ditches on Large Renio Island through mangrove forest. Credit: National Library of Medicine.
	A Bombing Squadron Three (VB-3) SBD-3 scout bomber, probably flown by Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Paul A. Holmberg, ditches near USS Astoria (CA-34) at about 1342 hrs on 4 June 1942. This was one of two VB-3 planes that ditched near Astoria after they were unable to land on the damaged USS Yorktown (CV-5). A PBY is flying nearby, in right center. Credit: NAVY.		Leningrad inhabitants, including women of all ages, under the leadership of Petrov, a munition worker, using shovels and picks to help construct anti-tank ditches in answer to the call to defend their city to the last during the Siege of Leningrad. Credit: Library of Congress.
	Street in company coal town. Kempton, West Virginia. Open ditches carry sewage down the street. Credit: Library of Congress.		Reservoir of Roosevelt Dam with irrigation ditches and highway. Gila County, Arizona. Credit: Library of Congress.
	Cherry orchards at Emmett, Gem County, Idaho. Notice the wide irrigation ditches. Water for irrigation is supplied by the Black Canyon Reservoir. Credit: Library of Congress.		The man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches ... and ain't I a woman?. Credit: Library of Congress.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Title	Author	Quote
Les Miserables	Hugo, Victor	I go all alone when I want to, I sleep in the ditches sometimes.
Grapes of Wrath	Steinbeck, John	And then they went back to the fields and were wild cats from then on, hunting gophers and field mice, and sleeping in ditches in the daytime.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Health		Although draining and drying of swamps gets rid of larval breeding sites, water-filled irrigation ditches may give mosquitoes another area to breed. (references)
Worker Rights	Philippines	Mindanao plantations growing bananas for export frequently used children as day laborers in trimming and fertilizing plants and in clearing irrigation ditches. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

"DITCHES" is generally used as a noun (plural) -- approximately 90.00% of the time. "DITCHES" is used about 210 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (plural)	90%	189	22,353
Lexical Verb (-s form)	9.05%	19	80,337
Noun (proper)	0.95%	2	245,945
Total	100.00%	210	N/A

Expressions using "DITCHES": field ditches ♦ flooding from ditches. Additional references.
Hypenated Usage
	Ending with "DITCHES": ring-ditches.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language		Translations for "DITCHES"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Chinese		垄沟 (Ditch). (various references)

Danish		specielle groefter eller trug til opfangning af vand kan udfoeres paa skraenter,som ligger over vejskraaninger (above the slope of the road(only known as intercepting ditches in U.K.), intercepting ditches/intercepting channels/ are constructed on hillsides), overfladevand fra koerebane og skraaninger:afledes enten direkte til groefter eller via trug og render /rendesten/ gennem nedloebsbroende til en lukket langs-eller tvaergaaende afvanding (surface water on the carriageway and slopes is either collected directly into ditches or via channels and gutters into gullies and thence to an enclosed longitudinal or transverse drainage system), lille groeft (field ditches), groeftedraening (drainage by ditches or gutters). (various references)

Dutch		sloot met twee functies (dual-purpose ditches), oversijpeling (contour ditch irrigation, flooding from ditches), op hellingen,bovenaan wegbermen,kunnen sloten worden aangelegd die het water van de kruin afvoeren (above the slope of the road(only known as intercepting ditches in U.K.), intercepting ditches/intercepting channels/ are constructed on hillsides), hydraulische grijper bovenop de trekker met baggerbak bij reinigen van sloten (jib mounted on top of a tractor and fitted out with a dredge scoop to clean ditches), het oppervlaktewater van rijweg en bermen wordt hetzij rechtstreeks door sloten afgevoerd,hetzij via greppels of goten door straatkolken in een langs-of dwarsriool geleid (surface water on the carriageway and slopes is either collected directly into ditches or via channels and gutters into gullies and thence to an enclosed longitudinal or transverse drainage system), greppel (ditch, hole, pit), begreppelen (drainage by ditches or gutters, opening furrows, trenching). (various references)

Finnish		sarkaoja (field ditches), kastelu niskaojien avulla (contour ditch irrigation, flooding from ditches). (various references)

French		drainage par rigoles (drainage by ditches or gutters), des fossés de crête sont exécutés au sommet,quelquefois au flanc,des talus (above the slope of the road(only known as intercepting ditches in U.K.), intercepting ditches/intercepting channels/ are constructed on hillsides), petits fossés (field ditches), pelleteuse chargeuse avec godet � déversement vers l'arrière pour travaux de drainage,utilisée pour le curage de tranchées (jib mounted on top of a tractor and fitted out with a dredge scoop to clean ditches), les eaux de surface de la chaussée et des talus sont évacuées soit directement dans des fosses soit,par l'intermédiaire de caniveaux et de cunettes,en passant par des pulsards � grille,dans des canalisations longitudinales ou transversales (surface water on the carriageway and slopes is either collected directly into ditches or via channels and gutters into gullies and thence to an enclosed longitudinal or transverse drainage system), fossés � double fin d'irrigation et de drainage (dual-purpose ditches), arrosage par rigoles de niveau (contour ditch irrigation, flooding from ditches), arrosage par rigoles de déversement (contour ditch irrigation, flooding from ditches). (various references)

German		Gräben (fosses). (various references)

Greek		μικραί αύλακες (field ditches), μικροί τάφροι (field ditches), άρδευσις δι'υπερχειλίσεως εξ αυλάκων (contour ditch irrigation, flooding from ditches), Τα επιφανειακά νερά του οδοστρώματος και των πρανών απάγονται είτε κατ'ευθείαν σε τάφρους είτε μέσω ρείθρων και συλλεκτηρίων τάφρων-διέρχ� (surface water on the carriageway and slopes is either collected directly into ditches or via channels and gutters into gullies and thence to an enclosed longitudinal or transverse drainage system), αποστράγγιση μέσω αυλάκων (drainage by ditches or gutters), τάφροι διπλού σκοπού (dual-purpose ditches), το μηχανικό-φορτωτικό φτυάρι με ανατρεπόμενο προς τα πίσω δοχείο για στραγγιστικές εργασίες,χρησιμοποιείται για την συντήρηση των τάφρων (jib mounted on top of a tractor and fitted out with a dredge scoop to clean ditches), Ανω συλλεκτήριοι εκτελούνται στην κορυφή και μερικές φορές στα πλευρά των πρανών. (above the slope of the road(only known as intercepting ditches in U.K.), intercepting ditches/intercepting channels/ are constructed on hillsides). (various references)

Italian		drenaggio con canaletti (drainage by ditches or gutters), netta-fossi a benna strisciante,per la pulizia dei fossi (jib mounted on top of a tractor and fitted out with a dredge scoop to clean ditches), le acque superficiali della carreggiata e delle scarpate vengono smaltite sia direttamente in fossati sia,mediante tombini e canaletti /cunette/,facendole passare,attraverso pozzetti di raccolta muniti di caditoia forata in condotte longitudinali o trasve (surface water on the carriageway and slopes is either collected directly into ditches or via channels and gutters into gullies and thence to an enclosed longitudinal or transverse drainage system), i fossi di guardia sono costruiti alla sommita delle scarpate stradali (above the slope of the road(only known as intercepting ditches in U.K.), intercepting ditches/intercepting channels/ are constructed on hillsides), fossatelli (field ditches). (various references)

Korean		도랑 (Ditch). (various references)

Pig Latin		itchesday

Portuguese		drenos de campo (field ditches), poço de crista.Os poços de crista são feitos no cimo ou � s vezes nos flancos dos taludes (above the slope of the road(only known as intercepting ditches in U.K.), intercepting ditches/intercepting channels/ are constructed on hillsides), pá carregadora com retroescavadora equipada com valador para trabalhos de drenagem,utilizada na limpeza de valas (jib mounted on top of a tractor and fitted out with a dredge scoop to clean ditches), irrigação com inundação por valas (contour ditch irrigation, flooding from ditches), fossos de dupla finalidade (dual-purpose ditches), as águas de superfície do pavimento e dos taludes são evacuadas seja directamente em poços,seja por meio de regos e valetas,passando por sarjetas de grelha,nas canalizações longitudinais ou transversais (surface water on the carriageway and slopes is either collected directly into ditches or via channels and gutters into gullies and thence to an enclosed longitudinal or transverse drainage system). (various references)

Spanish		zanjas de parcela (field ditches), zanjas de doble uso (dual-purpose ditches), la escorrentía de la calzada y de los taludes se recoge directamente en zanjas o por canales y cunetas, llevándola a través de sumideros a los sistemas de drenaje longitudinales o transversales (surface water on the carriageway and slopes is either collected directly into ditches or via channels and gutters into gullies and thence to an enclosed longitudinal or transverse drainage system), la cuneta de coronación se construye en la parte alta del talud y a veces en los flancos (above the slope of the road(only known as intercepting ditches in U.K.), intercepting ditches/intercepting channels/ are constructed on hillsides), inundación por regueras (contour ditch irrigation, flooding from ditches). (various references)

Swedish		diken. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Date	Source	2 Kings Chapter 3, Verse 16
Greek (transliterated)	250 BC	Septuagint	Kai eipen tade legei kurioV poihsate ton ceimarroun touton boqunouV boqunouV
Latin	405	Vulgate	Haec dicit Dominus facite alveum torrentis huius fossas et fossas
Middle English	1395	Wyclif	And he seith, These thingis seith the Lord, Makith the wombe of this streme dychis and dychis.
Jacobean English	1611	King James	And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches.
Victorian English	1833	Webster	And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches.
Basic English	1964	Ogden	And he said, The Lord says, I will make this valley full of water-holes.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language	2 Kings Chapter 3, Verse 16
Cebuano	Ug siya miingon: Kini mao ang giingon ni Jehova: Himoa nga kining walog mapuno sa mga kanal.
Chinese	他便說、耶 �'� 華如此說、 � 們要在這谷中滿處挖溝。
Croatian	I on reèe: "Ovako veli Jahve: 'Iskopajte u ovoj dolini mnogo jama.
Danish	Derpå sagde han: "Så siger HERREN: Grav Grøft ved Grøft i Dalen her!
Dutch	En hij zeide: Zo zegt de HEERE: Maakt in dit dal vele grachten.
Finnish	ja hän sanoi: "Näin sanoo Herra: Tehkää tämä laakso kuoppia täyteen.
French	Et il dit: Ainsi parle l`Éternel: Faites dans cette vallée des fosses, des fosses!
German	und er sprach: So spricht der HERR: Macht hier und da Gräben an diesem Bach!
Haitian Creole	Elize di: --Men sa Seyè a di: Fouye anpil gwo twou nan fon ravin sa a.
Hungarian	És monda: Ezt mondja az Úr: Csináljatok itt és ott e patakon árkokat;
Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari	sehingga ia berkata, "Inilah yang dikatakan TUHAN: 'Buatlah parit-parit di wadi ini.
Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama	sehingga sabdanya: Demikian inilah firman Tuhan: Perbuatkanlah olehmu beberapa parit dalam lembah ini;
Maori	Na ka mea ia, Ko te kupu tenei a Ihowa, Meinga tenei raorao kia kapi i te waikeri.
Norwegian	Og han sa: Så sier Herren: Gjør grøft ved grøft i dalen her!
Portuguese	E ele disse: Assim diz o Senhor: Fazei neste vale muitos poços.
Rumanian	Wi a zis: ,,Awa vorbewte Domnul: ,,Faceyi gropi kn valea aceasta, groapq lkngq groapq!
Russian	Й ПО УЛБЪБМ: ФБЛ ЗПЧПТЙФ зПУ� П�"Ш: �"ЕМБКФЕ ОБ УЕК �"ПМЙОЕ ТЧЩ ЪБ ТЧБНЙ,
Spanish	y éste dijo: --Así ha dicho Jehovah: "Haced varios diques en este valle.
Swedish	Och han sade: "Så säger HERREN: Gräven i denna dal grop vid grop.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Misspellings
	"DITCHES" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Detchon, diches, Dichte, dictes, Dische, ditche, ditchs, Dontcha, dutches, dutchess, Dutchness. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "DITCHES" (pronounced di"khuz)
4	-i" kh u z	bitches, britches, enriches, glitches, hitches, itches, niches, pitches, riches, stitches, switches, twitches, witches.
3	-kh u z	approaches, arches, attaches, avalanches, batches, beaches, benches, boches, branches, breaches, broaches, brunches, bunches, catches, churches, clenches, clinches, clutches, coaches, cockroaches, couches, crunches, crutches, detaches, dispatches, encroaches, entrenches, etches, fetches, finches, goldfinches, hatches, hunches, impeaches, inches, latches, launches, leaches, leeches, lunches, lurches, marches, matches, mismatches, mulches, notches, ostriches, overreaches, patches, peaches, perches, pooches, porches, pouches, preaches, punches, ranches, reaches, researches, roaches, sandwiches, scotches, scratches, screeches, searches, sketches, slouches, snatches, speeches, starches, stopwatches, stretches, swatches, teaches, thatches, torches, touches, trenches, watches, wenches, wrenches, wristwatches.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "c-d-e-h-i-s-t"
	-1 letter: chides, edicts, ethics, histed, itched, itches.
	-2 letters: cedis, cesti, chest, chide, chits, cited, cites, deist, dices, diets, ditch, dites, edict, edits, ethic, heist, hides, shied, sited, stich, stied, tides.
	-3 letters: cedi, chid, chis, chit, cist, cite, dice, dies, diet, disc, dish, dite, dits, edhs, edit, etch, eths, etic, hest, hets, hide, hied, hies.
	Words containing the letters "c-d-e-h-i-s-t"
	+1 letter: chedites, ditchers, snitched, stitched, switched.
	+2 letters: cadetship, chastised, cheddites, dehiscent, outchides, stepchild, tracheids.
	+3 letters: cadetships, childliest, chondrites, christened, disenchant, dispatched, dispatcher, dispatches, dowitchers, hedonistic, midwatches, mismatched, mispatched, mistouched, rachitides, restitched, theodicies, thickheads, unstitched, witchweeds.
	+4 letters: achondrites, cantharides, despatching, dichotomies, dichromates, discotheque, disenchants, dispatchers, feldspathic, headachiest, hemstitched, indehiscent, methodistic, mustachioed, orthopedics, schematized, stanchioned, stickhandle, switchblade, topstitched.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.