Definition

1. Noun:

   • A barrier to control water: A wall or embankment built to prevent flooding, especially from a river or the sea.
   • (Slang, offensive): A derogatory term for a lesbian who presents in a traditionally masculine way.

2. Verb:

   • To enclose or protect with a dike: To build or construct a dike around an area to defend it from water.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The dike broke after days of heavy rain, flooding the town.
  • The Netherlands is famous for its extensive system of dikes.

• Verb:

  • The farmers diked the low-lying fields to create more arable land.
  • They plan to dike the entire coastal area to mitigate storm surges.

Advanced Usage

• "To be a dike in the stream": An idiom meaning to be an obstacle or hindrance to progress.
  • His stubbornness was a dike in the stream of the negotiations.

Variants and Related Words

• Dyke: An alternative spelling, especially common in British English.
• Diking (gerund/noun): The action or process of constructing dikes.
  • The diking of the estuary was a massive engineering project.

Synonyms

• Noun (for barrier): Levee, embankment, dam, barrier, seawall.
• Verb: Embank, levee, bank up, enclose.

Phrasal Verbs

• Dike off: To separate or enclose an area by building a dike.
  • They diked off a section of the marsh for the new construction.

Related Idioms

• "A finger in the dike": Refers to a desperate or temporary measure to prevent a disaster, originating from the story of the Dutch boy who plugged a leak in a dike with his finger.
  • The emergency funding was just a finger in the dike; a long-term solution is needed.

Noun

1. a barrier constructed to contain the flow of water or to keep out the sea
2. (slang) offensive term for a lesbian who is noticeably masculine

Verb

1. enclose with a dike
   • dike the land to protect it from water