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.
Any long, narrow receptacle for water on the surface of the earth.
To dig a ditch or ditches in; to drain by a ditch or ditches; as, to ditch moist land.
noun A drainage ditch, designed for water runoff, which usually runs downhill and sometimes has smooth banks or transitions and can be skated in.
a trough- like excavation made to collect water
A wide, deep trench around a defensive work. When filled with water it was termed a moat or wet ditch; otherwise a dry ditch or fosse. An unexcavated area between an outwork, such as a ravelin and its protected curtain, could also be called a ditch.
An elongated hole dug as protection or drainage. Usually around a settlement.See EARTHWORKS
A long narrow trench dug as a boundary, barrier or drain. In Ireland and parts of Wales, a bank or other raised barrier.
A trench made by digging. A narrow open passage for water on the surface of the ground.
a long narrow excavation in the earth
cut a trench in, as for drainage; "ditch the land to drain it"; "trench the fields"
a long, narrow place dug in the earth to carry off water
a shallow depression dug into the show ring
an excavation in front of a rampart which presents an obstacle to the attackers and provides excavated material which can be used in construction of ramparts. Commonly referred to as a "moat."
linear trench, either wet (moat) or dry, intended as an obstacle to attackers or a sheltered line of communications for defenders.
The excavation around the works from which the earth for parapet and rampart is obtained. Ditches may be wet (moat) or dry, with the latter the preferred in 18th & 19th century forts. When the excavation is on the side farthest from the enemy, it is called a trench.
A long narrow trench or furrow dug in the ground, as for irrigation, drainage, or a boundary line.
A man-made, open drainage-way in or into which excess surface water or groundwater drained from land, stormwater runoff, or floodwaters flow either continuously or intermittentlyDrain. A buried slotted or perforated pipe or other conduit (subsurface drain) or a ditch (open drain) for carrying off surplus groundwater or surface water.
An excavation around part or all of the walls of a fort to hinder the advance of an attacker.
A water channel dug to assist drainage or the mark a boundary. In this part of the world most are bordered by a hedge.
A deep dry moat surrounding the fort in front of the parapet. It is designed to impede access to the parapet.
a wide, deep trench around a defensive work. When filled with water, it was termed a “wet ditch,” otherwise it was called a “dry ditch.
excavation providing soil to construct a parapet. A ditch could be in front of the parapet ( front-ditch or exterior), behind it ( back-ditch or interior), or on both sides ( double-ditch). Engineers preferred front-ditch construction whenever time and labor permitted, as it created a stronger profile. Batteries, redans, lunettes, and redoubts were consistently constructed with a front-ditch. Back-ditch construction was the fastest way to entrench, and therefore was used most often for rapid infantry entrenchments. A double-ditch resulted from digging in front to widen an existing back-ditch parapet, from constructing a covered way behind a front-ditched line, or from capture and refacing. Some evidence of the ditch-a shallow trough-often survives even if its parapet has eroded away. The scarp and counterscarp are the inner and outer slopes of the ditch.