Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Dyke |
DykeNoun1. Offensive terms for a lesbian who is noticeably masculine. 2. A barrier constructed to contain the flow or water or to keep out the sea. Verb1. Enclose with a dike; "dike the land to protect it from water". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "dyke" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Mining | The British spelling of dike. (references) |
Multilingual Slang | French (gouine), Swedish (flata ). (references) |
Public Administration | A natural or artificial embankment which confines the river within its channel and prevents flooding. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A dike (or dyke) is a construction built along the edge of a body of water to prevent it from flooding onto an adjacent lowland. Dikes can be permanent earthworks or emergency buildings (often of sandbags) built hastily in a flood emergency. The Zuiderzee Works (North Sea Reclamation Works) in the Netherlands are an immense series of dikes built to reclaim the area from the sea. This dike sytem goes further to the east and north via nearly the whole german coast up to Esbjerg in Denmark. The estuaries of the flatland rivers Rhine, Elbe, Ems, Weser and Eider are also protected from storm tides by dikes, which can be more than 9 m high.
The city of Richmond, British Columbia in Canada is an island of 129.666 km2 at the delta of the Fraser River. The first dykes were created by individual farmers in 1861 to reclaim land. Pumps are still used to this day to keep water out, and there are still uncovered ditches throughout much of Richmond. Many of the ditches are being replaced with pipes with sidewalks on top.
See also:
- Richmond's Dyke system
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Dike (construction)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A dyke is a slang term for a lesbianA dyke (in American English) or dike (in British English) is:
See also dike for further meanings under that spelling.
- A long wall built to keep out the sea, or enclose land, see dyke (construction)
- A ditch
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Dyke."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A lesbian (lowercase l) is a homosexual woman, that is, a woman who prefers romantic and sexual relationships with other women.
The word "lesbian" originally referred to an inhabitant of the island of Lesbos, in ancient Greece. The term has come to have its current meaning due to the ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho, who lived on the island; some of her poems concerned love between women. Whether Sappho was herself a lesbian, in the modern meaning of the term, or simply a poet who described lesbians, is open to question; whilst she did indeed write poems about love between women, there is some dispute as to just how far to interpret her writings in this fashion. This association with Sappho led to the term sapphism being used as another term for lesbianism.
Coincidentally, lesbianism is also extensively practised by the pygmy chimpanzee (bonobo), one of the human's closest ape relatives.
Lesbian couples have been attracting attention by others, in relation to feminism, sexual relationships, marriage and parenting, and other areas.
As such, "Lesbian Bed Death" is a phrase coined by researcher Pepper Schwartz to describe her findings that lesbian couples have less sex than couples of any other sexual orientation. However, her findings have been criticised by many; it is argued that this can happen to any relationship whether heterosexual or not. Within part of the lesbian community, the phenomenon is usually rejected and is the subject of humour. Some lesbians who do accept "lesbian bed death" however consider it to be an inevitable part of any long-term lesbian relationship. Many lesbian couples however, do enjoy a fulfilling sex life.
In relation to feminism, and arising in relation to the Radical feminism movement, lesbian separatism became popular: groups of lesbian women coming together and living in communal societies together. Some lesbian women found this sort of society to be liberating; however others, such as Kathy Rudy, in Radical Feminism, Lesbian Separatism and Queer Theory, remark that stereotypes and hierarchies reinforcing those stereotypes developed in her experience of living in a lesbian separatist collective, which ultimately led her to leave the group.
In some countries, the right of lesbian women to have access to assisted birth technologies such as IVF in order to have children, has been the subject of debate: in Australia, the High Court rejected a Roman Catholic Church move to ban access to IVF treatments for lesbian and single women. However, the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard had sought to amend legislation to prevent the access of these groups to IVF, raising indignation from the gay and lesbian community.
Explicit prohibitions on women's homosexual behavior are in Western societies sometimes markedly less than on men's. Lesbianism has been legal in Great Britain since the Victorian Era, when male homosexuality was not, and at least occasionally produced a prison sentence. Jewish religious teachings condemn male, but not female, homosexuality.
See also: feminism, gay, homosexuality, Famous gay lesbian or bisexual people, black triangle
External links
The term Lesbian (capital L) describes things pertaining to the island of Lesbos or Lesvos in Greece or to inhabitants of that island. A more modern term is Lesvonian.
- "Lesbian Health" from plannedparenthood.org
- Criticism of Lesbian Bed Death
- Australia backs lesbian IVF treatment - BBC News Online
- Lesbians protest IVF ban plan - BBC News Online
See Lesbos.
External link
- William Addams Reitwiesner's monograph, The Lesbian Ancestors of Prince Rainier of Monaco, Dr. Otto von Habsburg, Brooke Shields, and the Marquis de Sade
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Lesbian."
Synonyms: DykeSynonyms: butch (n), dam (n), levee (n), dike (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Defense | Safeguard; (safety); balistraria; bunker, screen; (shelter); camouflage; (concealment); fortification; munition, muniment; trench, foxhole; bulwark, fosse, moat, ditch, entrenchment, intrenchment; kila; dike, dyke; parapet, sunk fence, embankment, mound, mole, bank, sandbag, revetment; earth work, field-work; fence, wall dead wall, contravallation; paling; (inclosure); palisade, haha, stockade, stoccado, laager, sangar; barrier, barricade; boom; portcullis, chevaux de frise; abatis, abattis, abbatis; vallum, circumvallation, battlement, rampart, scarp; escarp, counter-scarp; glacis, casemate; vallation, vanfos. |
Furrow | Channel, gutter, trench, ditch, dike, dyke; moat, fosse, trough, kennel; ravine; (interval); tajo, thank-ye-ma'am. |
Gulf Lake | Lake, loch, lough, mere, tarn, plash, broad, pond, pool, lin, puddle, slab, well, artesian well; standing water, dead water, sheet of water; fish pond, mill pond; ditch, dike, dyke, dam; reservoir. (store); alberca, barachois, hog wallow. |
Inclosure | Dike, dyke, ditch, fosse, moat. |
Woman | Lesbian, dyke. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Dyke |
| English words defined with "dyke": Gabion. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "dyke": Grahame's Dyke, Grayham's, Grim's Dyke ♦ inner toe ♦ ladder lode, ladder vein, Lookers-on ♦ masculine lesbian ♦ Offa's Dyke ♦ VAN DYKE ♦ Wans Dyke, Wats Dyke. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I think I'll dye my hair another color and start dressing like a dyke. (Pink Flamingos; writing credit: John Waters) Mama's boy, Peter Pan complex. Self-absorbed closet dyke with a big The World Owes Me chip on her shoulder, and check out Sarah Plain and Tall, has or comes from big money (Angel; writing credit: Letícia Dornelles) | |
Lyrics | Cause I grab the mic and flip my tongue like a dyke (Keep Their Headz Ringin; performing artist: Dr. Dre) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971) Dick Van Dyke and the Other Woman (1968) The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) Girls of Dyke Manor (1995) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Henry W. Dyke Acland, F.R.S., &c. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | [Johnson Van Dyke Middleton]. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | Yes, this er Professor Van Dyke says there are only thirty-five genuine Rembrandts ... Credit: Library of Congress. |  | S.E. over dyke bordered Ouse and flat fen country, Little Port, near Ely. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | First rush of water through Gamboa dyke, Panama Canal. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | New Castle, Delaware. Van Dyke doorway. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Portrait of Henry Van Dyke. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Dyke & bike" by Frank P.J. Van Haalen Commentary: "Bicycle passing by on one of the many Dutch dykes in Holland, The Netherlands." | "Zimchrome" by Kevin Walsh Commentary: "A chrome miner in a small-scale underground mine, the Great Dyke, Zimbabwe." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Henry Van Dyke | No man's credit is as good as his money. |
| What we do belongs to what we are; and what we are is what becomes of us. | |
| The best rosebush after all, is not that which has the fewest thorns, but that which bears the finest roses. | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| "Dyke" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 59.45% of the time. "Dyke" is used about 254 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 (singular) | 59.45% | 151 | 25,596 |
| Noun (proper) | 40.55% | 103 | 32,137 |
| Total | 100.00% | 254 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "dyke" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Dyke | Last name | 2,000 | 6,707 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "dyke": clastic dyke ♦ sandstone dyke ♦ Van Dyke. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "dyke": Dyke-acland, dyke-divide, dyke-forming, dyke-hag, dyke-mobile, Dyke-wellington. | |
Ending with "dyke": Baby-dyke, bull-dyke, catch-dyke, fill-dyke, non-dyke. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
dyke | 389 | dyke shane van | 12 |
paul van dyke | 169 | dyke foth van | 12 |
dick van dyke | 136 | black dyke | 11 |
van dyke | 89 | bull dyke | 10 |
dick van dyke show | 84 | dyke march sf | 10 |
jost van dyke | 69 | catalog dyke van | 10 |
barry van dyke | 57 | lesbian dyke | 10 |
dyke march | 41 | dyke restoration van | 10 |
phillip van dyke | 31 | beard dyke van | 9 |
jerry van dyke | 26 | dyke public school van | 9 |
dyke francisco march san | 24 | dyke xxx | 9 |
larry dyke | 24 | dyke story | 9 |
van dyke park | 22 | van dyke park hotel | 9 |
henry van dyke | 21 | dyke shirt t | 8 |
leroy van dyke | 19 | offas dyke | 8 |
dyke porn | 17 | dyke march toronto | 7 |
connection dyke | 16 | dyke sex | 7 |
dyke industry | 15 | dyke free | 7 |
dyke restorer van | 13 | biography dick van dyke | 7 |
delta dyke | 13 | butch dyke | 7 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "dyke"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | digë (barrier, dike, Weir). (various references) | |
Arabic | حاجز (arresting, bail, bar, barricade, barrier, block, dike, divider, division, fence, jamming, levee, obstacle, parapet, partition, rail, screen, stem, traverse), سد (bar, barrage, block, bung, clog, close, close up, congest, dam, dike, embankment, fill, floodgate, foul, lock, mure, obturate, obturation, occlude, occlusion, pack, plug, seal, shut, stem, stop, stop up, stuff, tamp, wad, weir), طوق بسد (dike, embank), خندق (chase, dike, ditch, entrench, escarpment, moat, retrench, trench), إمرأة مساحقة (lesbian). (various references) | |
Chinese | 壩 (dam, embankment), 堤. (various references) | |
Czech | příkop (cutting, dike, ditch, trench), násep (bank, causeway), lesba, hráz (dam, embankment, Weir). (various references) | |
Danish | dige (dike, embankment), daemning (barrage, embankment, ground sill, jetty, sill), mole (breakwater, embankment, groin, groyne, jetty, landing stage, mole, pier, piled fendering, sea wall, spur, staging, timber staging, wharf), laemole (mole, sea-embankment, sea-wall breakwater), gang (corridor, occasion, passage, time), boelgebryder (embankment, sea wall), åre (oar, vein). (various references) | |
Dutch | dijk (dike, embankment), dam evenwijdig aan de kust (mole, sea-embankment, sea-wall breakwater), dam (dam, dame, king, lady, queen), gang (corridor, gallery, passage). (various references) | |
Farsi | سد(dike=), اب بند (Dam, Waterwheel), دیواری برای جلوگیری ازاب دریا, بنداب (Bar). (various references) | |
Finnish | valli (bank, embankment, rampart), pato (barrage, dam, dike, embankment). (various references) | |
French | endiguer, digue. (various references) | |
German | Deich (dam, dike, embankment, levee, seawall), Damm (bank, causeway, dam, dike, embankment, levee, perineum), parallel zur Kueste angelegte Mole (mole, sea-embankment, sea-wall breakwater), Lesbierin (lesbian), Lesbe (lesbian), Längsdamm (dike, flood bank, flood control levee, flood embankment, flood levee, levee), isolierte Mole (mole, sea-embankment, sea-wall breakwater), Hochwasserschutzdamm (dike, flood bank, flood control levee, flood embankment, flood levee, levee), Hochwasserdeich (dike, flood bank, flood control levee, flood embankment, flood levee, levee), Hochwasserdamm (dike, flood bank, flood control levee, flood embankment, flood levee, levee), Hafendamm (jetty), Gang (aisle, ambulation, arcade, bout, canal, colonnade, corridor, course, development, duct, errand, gait, gallery, gang, gangway, gear, hallway, heat, landing, lode, meatus, operation, pace, passage, passage(way), passageway, reef, running, speed, stride, thread, tunnel, vein, walk, walkway), eindeichen (dike, levee), eindämmen (check, confine, contain, dam, dam up, embank, hold off, stem, to dam up, to embank, to stem). (various references) | |
Greek | ανάχωμα (bank, dike, embankment, levee, mound). (various references) | |
Hebrew | תעלת נקוז (dike, drain), דיק (bastion, breastwork, bulwark, dike, mole, rampart). (various references) | |
Hungarian | töltés (bank, bund, burden, cartridge, charge, charging, dike, embankment, escarp, expletive, fill, load, loading, pen, rampart), gát (bar, barrage, dam, Digue, dike, hindrance, hurdle, hurdles, impediment, lasher, obstacle, pen, perineum, rampart, seal, shackle, stumbling-block, trammel, traverse), árok (chase, cut, delf, delft, dike, ditch, duct, escarp, foss, fosse, furrow, groove, pit, trench). (various references) | |
Italian | diga (breakwater, causeway, dam, dike, embankment, levee, Weir), argine (bank, bay, bulwark, dam, defence, defense, dike, embankment, levee, riverbank). (various references) | |
Korean | 제방. (various references) | |
Manx | kione (bottom, chief, close, closing, end, extreme, extremity, finish, head, headland, point, point of argument, poll, ringleader, termination, top, top of flower, top-end, tribune), cleigh marrey, boalley (bulwark, wall, wall building). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ykeday.(various references) | |
Portuguese | dique (bank, basin, bund, dam, embankment, jetty, lock, mole, mound, sluice), vala (dike, ditch, fosse, grave, pale, trough), represa (catchment, clow, dam, dike, embankment, lock-gate, mill-pond, penstock, reservoir, sluice, sluicegate, weir), obstáculo (balk, barrier, baulk, bunker, but, clog, cramp, difficulty, dike, jump, let, obstacle, plummet, preventer, prevention, rub, stop, trammels), fosso (dike, ditch, fosse, moat, pit, trench), filão (reef, streak, vein), canal (canal, channel, conduit, deferent, dike, duct, fosse, gat, gate, gullet, hollow, isthmus, meatus, outlet, runway, tube, watercourse, water-way), açude (dam, dike, mill-dam, penstock, water reservoir). (various references) | |
Romanian | opritoare (breakwater, drag, retainer, shoe, skid). (various references) | |
Russian | лесбиянка (lesbian). (various references) | |
Scottish | bàrd (a poet, bard, poet). (various references) | |
Spanish | dique paralelo a la costa (mole, sea-embankment, sea-wall breakwater), dique de abrigo (embankment, sea wall), dique aislado (mole, sea-embankment, sea-wall breakwater), dique (bank, dam, dike, dock, levee), tortillera (dike, lesbian), puta (dike, hooker, hustler, tart, tramp, whore), lesbiana (dike, lesbian), filón (pay dirt, pocket, seam, vein), estacada (dike, fence, fencing, jab, lurch, paling, palisade, prick, stockade), canal (canal, channel, dike, duct, gutter, side, sluice, track, trough, watercourse), acequia (dike, gutter, irrigation ditch, sluice). (various references) | |
Swedish | fördämning (barrage, dam, dike, embankment, weir). (various references) | |
Thai | เลสเบี้ยน (คำสแลง), เลสเบี้ยน (lesbo, lesser, lezzer, rug muncher), เขื่อนกั้นน้ำ. (various references) | |
Turkish | siper (aegis, barricade, bulwark, casemate, dike, entrenchment, foxhole, outwork, parapet, rampart, screen, shelter, shield, splasher, trench), set (bank, barrage, barrier, dam, dike, embankment, floodgate, groyne, obstruction, rampart, seawall, set, setting, studio, wall, Weir), lezbiyen (dike, invert, lesbian), bent (article, barrage, clause, dike, embankment, limb, paragraph, strophe, Weir). (various references) | |
Turkmen | bent (dam). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | стік (channel, dike, drainage, effluent, outlet), обкопувати канавою, захищати дамбою, перешкода (back-set, baffle, balk, bar, barricade, barrier, block, bridle, check, clog, contrariety, countercheck, cramp, cumber, dike, disability, discouragement, drawback, encumbrance, handicap, hindrance, hitch, hold back, interference, leap, marplot, nuisance, obex, objection, obstacle, obstruction, obstructive, occlusor, preclusion, pullback, stop, trammels, traverse, wall), дамба (bank, barrage, bund, causeway, dam, dike, embankment, jetty, mole, pen, pier, sea-bank). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | sự ngăn cản (check, determent, deterrence, dike, prevention), mương (dike, drain, drain-ditch, spray-drain), hào (dike, ditch), đê (bank, dike, embankment, water-wall). (various references) | |
Welsh | clawdd (barrage, embankment, hedge). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "dyke": dyked, dykes, dykey. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "dyke": vandyke. (additional references) | |
Words containing "dyke": vandyked, vandykes. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "dyke" (pronounced dī"k) |
| 3 | d ī" k | dike, Vandyke. |
| 2 | -ī" k | alike, bike, dislike, fyke, hike, like, Mike, Pike, psych, Spike, strike, tike, tyke, unlike. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-e-k-y" | |
-1 letter: dey, dye, key. | |
-2 letters: de, ed, ye. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-e-k-y" | |
+1 letter: dikey, dyked, dykes, dykey, keyed, ryked, skyed, yoked. | |
+2 letters: dickey, dinkey, donkey, drecky, kayoed, keypad, kidney, kythed, okayed, yacked, yakked, yanked, yerked, yeuked, yocked, yolked, yucked, yukked. | |
+3 letters: dickeys, dinkeys, disyoke, donkeys, dovekey, enskyed, kayaked, keycard, keypads, keyword, kidneys, nakedly, rekeyed, skydive, skydove, unyoked, vandyke, weekday. | |
+4 letters: cockeyed, copydesk, daybreak, disyoked, disyokes, dovekeys, forkedly, hawkeyed, jockeyed, kaleyard, keyboard, keycards, keynoted, keywords, kyanised, kyanized, kyboshed, lackeyed, ladylike, markedly, misyoked, monkeyed, okeydoke, skydived, skydiver, skydives, vandyked, vandykes, weekdays, wickedly. | |
| 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. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Usage Frequency 11. Names: Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
