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Duke vs Dyke - What's the difference?

duke | dyke |

As nouns the difference between duke and dyke

is that duke is the male ruler of a duchy (compare duchess) while dyke is an alternative spelling of lang=en.

As a verb duke

is to hit or beat with the fists.

As a proper noun Duke

is the title of a duke.

duke

English

(wikipedia duke)

Noun

(en noun)
  • The male ruler of a duchy (compare duchess ).
  • A high title of nobility; the male holder of a dukedom.
  • A grand duke.
  • (slang, usually in plural) A fist.
  • Put up your dukes !
    This is thought to be derived from where Duke(s) of York = Fork. Fork is itself cockney slang for hand, and thus fist.

    Hypernyms

    * nobility

    Coordinate terms

    * prince, monarch, baron, count, countess, earl, marquess, marquis, viscount

    Derived terms

    * archduke * duke it out * dukedom * grand duke * put up one's dukes

    Verb

    (duk)
  • To hit or beat with the fists.
  • * {{quote-book, 2003, John A. Dinan, Private Eyes in the Comics, isbn=159393002X, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=7vvAzXjtBAcC&pg=PA65, page=65
  • , passage=It seems that PI Rainer was duked by his wife

    Derived terms

    * duke it out * duke it * duke out * duke up * duke in ----

    dyke

    English

    (wikipedia dyke)

    Etymology 1

    Variant of (dike).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Australia, slang) A toilet.
  • 1977 , In Cubbaroo's dim distant past
    They built a double dyke.
    Back to back in the yard it stood
    An architectural dream in wood''
    — Ian Slack-Smith, ''The Passing of the Twin Seater'', from ''The Cubbaroo Tales'', 1977. Quoted in ''Aussie Humour
    , Macmillan, 1988, ISBN 0-7251-0553-4, page 235.
  • (UK) A ditch (rarely also refers to similar natural features, and to one natural valley, Devil's Dyke, Sussex, due to a legend that the devil dug it).
  • (UK, mainly S England) An earthwork consisting of a ditch and a parallel rampart.
  • (British) An embankment to prevent inundation, or a causeway.
  • (UK, mainly Scotland and N England) A mound of earth, stone- or turf-faced, sometimes topped with hedge planting, or a hedge alone, used as a fence.
  • (UK, mainly Scotland and N England) A dry-stone wall usually forming a boundary to a wood, field or garden.
  • (British, geology) A body of once molten igneous rock that was injected into older rocks in a manner that crosses bedding planes.
  • Etymology 2

    ; various theories suggested. Attested US 1942, in Berrey and Van den Bark’s American Thesaurus of Slang''."dike, dyke, n.3" ''The Oxford English Dictionary . 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford UP. 4 Apr. 2000 .
    Synonyms
    * See also
    Derived terms
    * bulldyke

    References

    Anagrams

    * ----