Ditch vs. Swale — What's the Difference?

A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation.

A low tract of land, especially when moist or marshy.

A long narrow trench or furrow dug in the ground, as for irrigation, drainage, or a boundary line.

A long, narrow, usually shallow trough between ridges on a beach, running parallel to the coastline.

To dig or make a long narrow trench or furrow in.

A shallow troughlike depression that carries water mainly during rainstorms or snow melts.

To surround with a long narrow trench or furrow.

A low tract of moist or marshy land.

To drive (a vehicle) into a long narrow trench, as one beside a road.

A long narrow and shallow trough between ridges on a beach, running parallel to the coastline.

To derail (a train).

A shallow troughlike depression that's created to carry water during rainstorms or snow melts; a drainage ditch.

To get rid of; discard

Bioswale, a shallow trough dug into the land on contour (horizontally with no slope), whose purpose is to allow water time to percolate into the soil.

To get away from (a person, especially a companion).

A shallow, usually grassy depression sloping downward from a plains upland meadow or level vegetated ridgetop.

To discontinue use of or association with

A gutter in a candle.

To skip (class or school).

Alternative form of sweal(melt and waste away, or singe)

To crash-land (an aircraft) on water.

A valley or low place; a tract of low, and usually wet, land; a moor; a fen.

To dig a ditch.

A gutter in a candle.

To crash-land in water. Used of an aircraft or a pilot.

A trench; a long, shallow indentation, as for irrigation or drainage.

(Ireland) A raised bank of earth and the hedgerow on top.

Alternative form of deech

(transitive) To discard or abandon.

To deliberately crash-land an airplane on water.

(ambitransitive) To deliberately not attend classes; to play hookey.

(intransitive) To dig ditches.

(transitive) To dig ditches around.

(transitive) To throw into a ditch.

Alternative form of deech

A trench made in the earth by digging, particularly a trench for draining wet land, for guarding or fencing inclosures, or for preventing an approach to a town or fortress. In the latter sense, it is called also a moat or a fosse.

Any long, narrow receptacle for water on the surface of the earth.

To dig a ditch or ditches in; to drain by a ditch or ditches; as, to ditch moist land.

To surround with a ditch.

To throw into a ditch; as, the engine was ditched and turned on its side.

To dig a ditch or ditches.

A long narrow excavation in the earth

Any small natural waterway

Forsake;

Throw away;

Sever all ties with, usually unceremoniously or irresponsibly;

Make an emergency landing on water

Crash or crash-land;

Cut a trench in, as for drainage;