Dyke vs Boy - What's the difference?
dyke | boy |
(Australia, slang) A toilet.
(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.
.
Male servant.
# (now, rare) A male servant, in general senses.
# (historical, now, offensive) A non-white male servant, as used especially by whites in a colonial settlement etc.
# (now, offensive) A non-white male.
(obsolete) A lower-class or disreputable man; a worthless person.
* 1608 , (William Shakespeare), (King Lear) , Act I Scene 4:
A young male human; a male child or young adult.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=
, volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= A son.
* (Walter Scott)
A man of any age, used as a friendly diminutive, or of a man who is merely younger than the speaker.
* 1977 , (Bert Newton), to (Mohammed Ali) at the 1977 Logie Awards:[http://www.abc.net.au/thingo/txt/s1088100.htm]
(colloquial) A male friend or fellow of some group, community etc. (mainly used in the plural).
(US, slang) Heroin.
to use the word boy to refer to someone
to act as a boy (qualifier, in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage)
* Shakespeare
As nouns the difference between dyke and boy
is that dyke is or dyke can be (slang|pejorative) a lesbian, particularly one who appears macho or acts in a macho manner this word has been reclaimed, by some, as politically empowering (see usage notes) while boy is .dyke
English
(wikipedia dyke)Etymology 1
Variant of (dike).Noun
(en noun)- 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.
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. 2000Synonyms
* See alsoDerived terms
* bulldykeReferences
Anagrams
* ----boy
English
Alternative forms
* boi (Jamaican English)Noun
(en noun)- When the 'dipenda' (independence movement) in Belgian Congo turned violent, the white colonisers' often materially privileged black domestic boys were mistrusted and often abused as collaborators.
- Dost thou call me fool, boy ?
Ian Sample
Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains, passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys , but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}
- My only boy fell by the side of great Dundee.
- I like the boy .
Synonyms
* brat * knave * lad * squirt * youngster * youth * See alsoSee also
* (African-American) uncleAntonyms
* (young male) girlDerived terms
* altar boy * attaboy * bad boy * bagboy * ball boy, ballboy * bat boy * b-boy * bell boy, bellboy * best boy * big boys * blue-eyed boy * boi * boy band * boy-bishop * boy crazy * boyfriend * boy genius * boyhood * boy howdy * boyish * boyism * boykin (diminutive) * boy oh boy * boy racer * boys and their toys * boy scout * boytjie * boy toy * boys will be boys * boy wonder * bully boy * bum boy * cabin boy * city boy * college boy * copy boy * cowboy * delivery boy * doughboy * farm boy * frat boy * golden boy * homeboy * house boy * lawnboy * little boy * lowboy * mama’s boy]], [[mummy's boy, mummy’s boy * my boy * nancy boy * newsboy * office boy * oh boy * old boy * our boy * page boy, pageboy * paper boy, paperboy * pizza boy, pizzaboy * pool boy * poor boy, po’ boy * poster boy * potboy * pretty boy * rent boy * sailor boy * sea boy * shop boy * sonny boy * stableboy * tallboy * Teddy boy * tomboy * traffic boy * water boy * whipping boy * whiteboy, white boy * wide boy * wolf boy * yellow boy, yellow-boyDescendants
* Irish English: boyo * Vietnamese:Verb
(en verb)- I shall see some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness.