(n.) A trench made in the earth by digging, particularly a trench for draining wet land, for guarding or fencing inclosures, or for preventing an approach to a town or fortress. In the latter sense, it is called also a moat or a fosse.
(n.) Any long, narrow receptacle for water on the surface of the earth.
(v. t.) To dig a ditch or ditches in; to drain by a ditch or ditches; as, to ditch moist land.
(v. t.) To surround with a ditch.
(v. t.) To throw into a ditch; as, the engine was ditched and turned on its side.
(v. i.) To dig a ditch or ditches.
Example Sentences:
(1) This year's IPO frenzy has shown further signs of fading, as yet another company ditched plans to list its shares on the London stock exchange.
(2) But the last people you'd rely on are those who dug the ditch and shoved you in – particularly when they're still building and still shoving.
(3) Plans for the pipeline to come onshore in Brindisi were ditched following local opposition.
(4) But in a last-ditch effort, his lawyers lodged an appeal for clemency on Monday morning.
(5) Now he must go | Momodou Musa Touray Read more As midday and 4pm deadlines to go passed on Friday, two regional leaders arrived in the capital, Banjul, in a last-ditch diplomatic effort to persuade him to step down.
(6) In Barcelona, where last-ditch negotiations are taking place, it became clear today the best hope for Copenhagen is a "politically binding" agreement, which rich countries hope will have all the key elements of the final deal, including specific targets and timetables for greenhouse gas emissions cuts and money for poor countries to cope with climate change.
(7) In a last-ditch attempt to overturn the award of the west coast rail franchise to FirstGroup, Virgin Trains co-owner Sir Richard Branson has offered to run the service "for free" to allow time for parliamentary scrutiny of the decision.
(8) Time to scrap all honours everywhere, including UK.” Australians had their chance to ditch the monarchy in 1999.
(9) By removing the safeguards on [the total number of] hours [a trainee medic can be told to work], doctors will be working unsafe hours, leading to poor patient care.” One source involved in helping to formulate Hunt’s new offer said it represented a serious move to break the impasse over the pay and conditions of NHS medics and is his “last-ditch attempt to resolve the junior doctors dispute” before the ballot produces a widely expected mandate for action.
(10) phi PS5, a double-stranded DNA bacteriophage of Pseudomonas stutzeri JM604 that adsorbs specifically to the outer-membrane protein NosA, was isolated from stagnant irrigation ditch water.
(11) We will have another financial shock – it’s inevitable.” Gary Greenwood, analyst at Shore Capital, described the results as “dismal” and noted the bank was ditching targets previously set to measure returns to shareholders.
(12) Geoff Reid Bradford • Is the Jeremy Hunt who stated that “We need to have an honest discussion about the purpose of A&E departments” ( Hunt ditches target as A&E crisis deepens , 10 January) the same Jeremy Hunt who took his own child to A&E with a minor illness because he didn’t want to wait for a GP appointment?
(13) The chancellor stressed that Britain’s relationship with the EU would remain unchanged for the time being – and ditched the idea, launched alongside his predecessor Alistair Darling during the campaign – that an emergency budget would be necessary within weeks, as Brexit slams the brakes on the economy.
(14) 5) Playing dirty helps win the day Three days before the vote, a panicking no campaign organised a last-ditch rally at the Place du Canada in Montreal.
(15) The head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) yesterday urged diplomats to stop bickering about a mini package of liberalisation designed to boost global commerce and warned of serious damage to the 20-year-old institution if last-ditch talks failed.
(16) A humiliated Trierweiler was publicly ditched by Hollande in a terse 18-word statement announcing that he was “putting an end” to their “shared life”.
(17) He took Jessica's mobile out of her pocket; he carried their bodies down the stairs and, after checking no one was around, bundled them into the cramped boot of his car, bending their legs to fit them in; he collected petrol and bin bags (to protect his feet and thus conceal evidence); he drove to Lakenheath and found a lonely track; he got out where the vegetation grew thickly and he rolled the two girls down into the ditch; he climbed into the ditch and cut off their clothing - their red football shirts and their tracksuit trousers, their knickers, Holly's black bra which she and her mother had bought the day before - and then he poured petrol over their bodies and threw on a match.
(18) On information known publicly, one Tamil man was detained when he came to Australia because he was a lawyer for the LTTE’s civil administration, another because he dug ditches on LTTE orders for civilian Tamils to shelter in during air raids by government aircraft.
(19) The railway staff left to pick up the pieces are being set up as scapegoats with ludicrous claims about Spanish practices and out-of-control pay, but our members have already been paying with their jobs as the privateers ditch frontline staff to maintain profits.
(20) The US secretary of state was due to hold late-night talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a last-ditch attempt to break the deadlock on unresolved issues.
Jettison
Definition:
(n.) The throwing overboard of goods from necessity, in order to lighten a vessel in danger of wreck.
(n.) See Jetsam, 1.
Example Sentences:
(1) Ever since the ex-PD leader Walter Veltroni started praising President Kennedy as a way to jettison communism, this has been an abiding theme, manifesting itself institutionally in the desperate attempt to engineer a US-style two-party system through breathtakingly inept electoral reforms – the latest one, the " Porcellum " (after porcello, swine), was behind the impasse earlier this year.
(2) A "cornerstone" of the legal system, the universal right to a solicitor upon arrest, could be jettisoned in favour of means-testing under controversial plans drawn up by the Ministry of Justice.
(3) Ministers float ideas about measuring rates of family break-up, which they must know they can do almost nothing about, and then scramble to jettison those financial metrics over which they exert the most direct control.
(4) During the local election campaign Farage has also jettisoned, seemingly on his whim, longstanding policies such as a flat rate of tax.
(5) "The STOVL is unable to land vertically on to a carrier in hot, humid and low pressure weather conditions without having to jettison heavy loads.
(6) However, during the past decade Paltrow appears to have decided to jettison her career and become a full-time spouter of nonsense about food , exercise and her own inner journey , all detailed on her website, Goop.
(7) He had been forced to jettison the entire consignment without compensation from his dealers.
(8) NBC dropped Miss Universe when the broadcaster jettisoned The Apprentice last month due to “derogatory statements” by Trump regarding immigrants.
(9) It's clearly not in the interests of ideologues who want to jettison the welfare state to help educate the public about its real value.
(10) The plan was for the plane to spray the sarin over a target site, but because of a malfunction, each tank still contained 90 gallons of sarin when they were jettisoned in an isolated area of the site at 8.29am.
(11) Many Conservatives have become increasingly concerned that in the government’s helter-skelter pursuit of the referendum, they have been jettisoning or watering down key elements of their legislative programme.
(12) It is one that Blatter will calibrate according to whether sticking with the tiny Gulf state, contending with temperatures of 50C-plus (122F) in the summer, and pressure over its treatment of migrant workers, is more trouble than jettisoning it.
(13) You Adebolajo sprinted towards the officers jettisoning the knife and carrying the cleaver above your head as if intent on attacking one or more of them, while you Adebowale went down the adjacent pavement and pointed the gun at the officers.
(14) As a result of his recalcitrance, Nkunda was jettisoned and replaced at the negotiating table by another CNDP leader, Bosco Ntaganda.
(15) The two short term goals for Osborne were to remain loyal to his manifesto but also jettison those nonsensical parts of the manifesto that he had never intended to deliver, but had merely inserted to wrongfoot Labour or abandon in a negotiation with his expected Lib Dem partners.
(16) Channel 4 is also cutting up to £75m from its £600m programme budget this year, while Five has jettisoned stars, including Trisha Goddard, to make savings.
(17) A further claim is that Crosby, whose company in Australia represents drinks industry interests, improperly influenced the British government to jettison a minimum unit price for alcohol.
(18) Giving money to any charity is an inherently political act – you say, for example, that you jettisoned the RSPCA when their focus switched to foxhunting.
(19) Shadow cabinet ministers were reported to be debating whether to jettison the Osborne deficit straitjacket and promise an extensive programme of investment in housing and public services.
(20) There are no indications that Mike D'Antoni's job is in jeopardy, but after seeing how quickly the Lakers organization jettisoned his predecessor, he can't feel too secure either.