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Dyke vs Bulwark - What's the difference?

dyke | bulwark |

As nouns the difference between dyke and bulwark

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 bulwark is a defensive wall or rampart.

As a verb bulwark is

to fortify something with a wall or rampart.

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

    * ----

    bulwark

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A defensive wall or rampart.
  • A defense or safeguard.
  • * Blackstone
  • The royal navy of England hath ever been its greatest defence, the floating bulwark of our island.
  • A breakwater.
  • (nautical) The planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale that reduces the likelihood of seas washing over the gunwales and people being washed overboard.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To fortify something with a wall or rampart.
  • To provide protection of defense for something.