ditch

A trench; a long, shallow indentation, as for irrigation or drainage.

Digging ditches has long been considered one of the most demanding forms of manual labor.

The truck careered off the road into a ditch.

A raised bank of earth and the hedgerow on top.

You flung a ditch on my vision Of beauty, love and truth. O stony grey soil of Monaghan You burgled my bank of youth!

The original ditches were created by digging trenches, as boundaries and/or irrigation. But to the English, the ditch is the trench. Whereas in Ireland, the ditch is the raised bank of earth and the hedgerow on top. (As for the trench, where I come from that’s a sheugh).

To discard or abandon.

Once the sun came out we ditched our rain-gear and started a campfire.

Why did you ditch your last boyfriend? He was so nice to you.

To deliberately crash-land an airplane on water.

When the second engine failed, the pilot was forced to ditch; their last location was just south of the Azores.

To deliberately not attend classes; to play hookey.

The truant officer caught Louise ditching with her friends, and her parents were forced to pay a fine.

"No, instead, it just had enough power to transform me, overload, and force me to wait to change back! I had to ditch school!"

To dig ditches.

Enclosure led to fuller winter employment in hedging and ditching.

To dig ditches around.

The soldiers ditched the tent to prevent flooding.

Alternative form of deech.