dyke

UK: /ˈdaɪk/ US: /daɪk/ ,(dīk)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

dyke¹ /daɪk/  n. 

1. dike¹.

dyke² or dike /daɪk/   n. [countable] [Slang (disparaging and offensive).]

1. Sex and Gender, Slang Terms a female homosexual;
   lesbian.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

dyke¹  (dīk), n., v., dyked, dyk•ing. 

1. dike¹.

dyke²  (dīk), n. [Slang (disparaging and offensive).]

1. Sex and Gender, Slang Terms a female homosexual;
   lesbian.

Also, dike. 

• 1940–45; earlier in form bulldike (with a variant bulldagger); of obscure origin, originally; claimed to be a shortening of morphodyke (variant of morphodite, a reshaping of hermaphrodite), though morphodyke is more likely a blend of, blended morphodite and a pre-existing dyke; other hypothesized connections, such as with diked out or dike "ditch,'' are dubious on semantic grounds

dyke′y, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

dyke, dike / daɪk/ noun

1. an embankment constructed to prevent flooding, keep out the sea, etc
2. a ditch or watercourse
3. a bank made of earth excavated for and placed alongside a ditch
4. a wall, esp a dry-stone wall
5. a barrier or obstruction
6. a vertical or near-vertical wall-like body of igneous rock intruded into cracks in older rock
7. a lavatory
8. (as modifier): a dyke roll

verb

1. (transitive) to protect, enclose, or drain (land) with a dyke

Etymology: 13th Century: modification of Old English dic ditch; compare Old Norse dīki ditch

dyke, dike / daɪk/ noun

1. a lesbian

Etymology: 20th Century: of unknown origin

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

dike¹ or dyke /daɪk/   n. [countable]

1. a thick wall or embankment for controlling or holding back the waters of the sea or a river.
2. Civil Engineering ditch.

dike² /daɪk/   n. 

1. dyke².

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

dike¹  (dīk), n., v., diked, dik•ing. 
n. 

1. Civil Engineering an embankment for controlling or holding back the waters of the sea or a river:
   They built a temporary dike of sandbags to keep the river from flooding the town.
2. Civil Engineering a ditch.
3. Civil Engineering a bank of earth formed of material being excavated.
4. Civil Engineering a causeway.
5. British Terms a low wall or fence, esp. of earth or stone, for dividing or enclosing land.
6. an obstacle;
   barrier.
7. Geology
   • a long, narrow, cross-cutting mass of igneous rock intruded into a fissure in older rock.
   • a similar mass of rock composed of other kinds of material, as sandstone.
8. British Terms [Chiefly Australian Slang.] a urinal.

v.t. 

9. Civil Engineering to furnish or drain with a dike.
10. Civil Engineering to enclose, restrain, or protect by a dike:
    to dike a tract of land.

Also, dyke. 

• Old Norse dīki; akin to ditch
• Middle English dik(e), Old English dīc bef. 900

dik′er, n. 

dike²  (dīk), n. [Slang] (often disparaging and offensive).

1. Sex and Gender dyke².

dike′y, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Dyke / daɪk/ noun

1. Greg(ory). born 1947, British television executive; director-general of the BBC (2000–04)