Dike (dī), n. [OE. dic, dike, diche, ditch, AS. dīc dike, ditch; akin to D. dijk dike, G. deich, and prob. teich pond, Icel. dīki dike, ditch, Dan. dige; perh. akin to Gr. τει̑χοσ (for θει̑χοσ) wall, and even E. dough; or perh. to Gr. τι̑φοσ pool, marsh. Cf. Ditch.] 1. A ditch; a channel for water made by digging.
Little channels or dikes cut to every bed. Ray.
2. An embankment to prevent inundations; a levee.
Dikes that the hands of the farmers had raised...
Shut out the turbulent tides. Longfellow.
3. A wall of turf or stone.
4. (Geol.) A wall-like mass of mineral matter, usually an intrusion of igneous rocks, filling up rents or fissures in the original strata.