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dyke

/ˈdaɪ̯k/noun, verb

dyke is spelled D-Y-K-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “dike vs dyke” about 60 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, dyke means “An earthwork raised to prevent inundation of low land by the sea or flooding rivers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dyke is dykes.

How many letters and syllables are in dyke?

Letters4: D-Y-K-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.3 times per million words; the 17,813th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is dyke?

Dyke appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce dyke?

  • /ˈdaɪ̯k/
  • /ˈdʌɪ̯k/
  • /ˈdɜɪ̯k/

Dyke has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dyke.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with dyke

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

dike vs dyke60 B

Also written: dike.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of dyke

  • dykes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • dike US
  • dyking participle, present
  • dyked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does dyke mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    UKAn earthwork raised to prevent inundation of low land by the sea or flooding rivers.

  2. 2

    ScotlandUKA low embankment or stone wall serving as an enclosure and boundary marker.

  3. 3

    UKA raised causeway.

  4. 4

    UKA long, narrow hollow dug from the ground to conduct water.

  5. 5

    UKAny navigable watercourse.

  6. 6

    UKAny watercourse.

  7. 7

    UKAny small body of water.

  8. 8

    UKA body of rock (usually igneous) originally filling a fissure but now often rising above the older stratum as it is eroded away.

  9. 9

    UKderogatoryoffensiveslangvulgarA lesbian, particularly one with masculine or butch traits or behavior.

  10. 10

    UKderogatoryoffensiveslangvulgarA non-heterosexual woman.

  11. 11

    UKderogatoryoffensiveslangvulgarA masculine woman.

verb

  1. 1

    UKTo dig, particularly to create a ditch.

  2. 2

    UKTo surround with a ditch, to entrench.

  3. 3

    ScotlandUKTo surround with a low dirt or stone wall.

  4. 4

    UKTo raise a protective earthwork against a sea or river.

  5. 5

    UKTo scour a watercourse.

  6. 6

    UKTo steep [fibers] within a watercourse.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Dyke in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfossé (ditch and bank running alongside each other), digue (barrier to prevent flooding), gouine (masculine lesbian – see also butch, lesbian)
GermanGraben (ditch and bank running alongside each other), Deich (barrier to prevent flooding), Kampflesbe (masculine lesbian – see also butch, lesbian), Gesteinsgang (geology: body of once igneous rock injected…)
Portuguesetrincheira (ditch and bank running alongside each other), dique (barrier to prevent flooding), sapatão, caminhoneira, fufa (masculine lesbian – see also butch, lesbian)
Spanishdique (barrier to prevent flooding)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does dyke come from?

A variant of dike, from Northern Middle English dik and dike (“ditch”), from Old Norse díki (“ditch”). Influenced by Middle Dutch dijc (“ditch; dam”) and Middle Low German dīk (“dam”). See also ditch. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dīkiją (“trench, ditch”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“stick into, pierce; dig, stick a spade into”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after dyke