What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Dam vs Dike - What's the difference?

dam | dike | Synonyms |

Dike is a synonym of dam.



As nouns the difference between dam and dike

is that dam is a structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow while dike is archaic spelling of all meanings of dyke.

As verbs the difference between dam and dike

is that dam is to block the flow of water while dike is to surround or protect with a dike or dry bank; to secure with a bank.

As a proper noun Dike is

{{surname|topographic|from=Middle English}} for someone living near a dike.

dam

Translingual

Symbol

(head)
  • ----

    dike

    English

    Alternative forms

    * dyke

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (British) Archaic spelling of all (British) meanings of dyke.
  • A barrier of stone or earth used to hold back water and prevent flooding.
  • * 1891 :
  • ** The king of Texcuco advised the building of a great dike , so thick and strong as to keep out the water.
  • (pejorative) A lesbian, especially a butch lesbian.
  • (geology) A body of once molten igneous rock that was injected into older rocks in a manner that crosses bedding planes.
  • Synonyms

    * (barrier of stone or earth) bank, embankment, dam, levee, breakwater, floodwall, seawall * ditch

    Antonyms

    * dune

    See also

    * dough * duck * duct * thick

    Verb

    (dik)
  • To surround or protect with a dike or dry bank; to secure with a bank.
  • *{{quote-journal, 2001, date=November 16, Karen F. Schmidt, ECOLOGY: A True-Blue Vision for the Danube, Science citation
  • , passage=Next News Focus ECOLOGY: A True-Blue Vision for the Danube Karen F. Schmidt * Romanian scientists are at the forefront of a European effort to balance the protection and exploitation of vast, diverse wetlands B UCHAREST-- In 1983, dictator Nicolae Ceausescu decreed that the Romanian Danube delta, one of Europe's largest wetlands, be diked for growing rice and maize. }}
  • * {{quote-news, year=1996, date=September 27, author=Michael Miner, title=WVON Won't Take the Bait/Meigs and the Dailies: The Long View, work=Chicago Reader citation
  • , passage=Lakeside water-filtration plants, an 11,000-acre diked airport east of 55th Street, slash-and-bulldoze highway projects through Jackson and Lincoln parks--these and many another grandiose project leapt from the sketchbooks of city planners. }}
  • To drain by a dike or ditch.
  • ----