dyke

dyke
dyke (n.) 1931, American English, perhaps a shortening of morphadike, dialectal garbling of HERMAPHRODITE (Cf. hermaphrodite); but bulldyker "engage in lesbian activities" is attested from 1921, and a source from 1896 lists dyke as slang for "the vulva."
[T]he word appears first in the long forms, bulldiker and bulldyking, both used in the 1920s by American blacks. No African antecedents have been found for the term, however, which leads to the possibility that this is basically just another backcountry, barnyard word, perhaps a combination of BULL and DICK. [Rawson]

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • dyke — [ dik; dajk ] n. m. • 1759; dike 1768; mot angl. « digue » ♦ Géol. Roche éruptive qui fait saillie à la surface du sol et qui affecte la forme d une épaisse muraille ou d une colonne. ⇒ neck. ● dyke nom masculin (anglais dyke, digue) Filon de… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • dyke — s.n. (geol.) Filon de lavă injectată şi consolidată în crăpătura unui con vulcanic, care, prin eroziunea terenurilor, rămâne în relief ca un zid. ♦ Dig mic. [pron. daic. / < engl. dyke]. Trimis de LauraGellner, 25.02.2005. Sursa: DN  DYKE… …   Dicționar Român

  • dyke — Ⅰ. dyke [1] (also dike) ► NOUN 1) an embankment built to prevent flooding from the sea. 2) an earthwork serving as a boundary or defence: Offa s Dyke. 3) a ditch or watercourse. 4) Geology an intrusion of igneous rock cutting across existing… …   English terms dictionary

  • Dyke — Dyke, n. See {Dike}. The spelling dyke is restricted by some to the geological meaning. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • dyke — dyke; van·dyke; dyke·reeve; …   English syllables

  • dyke — dyke, dike In the meaning ‘embankment’, dyke is the preferred form. This is also true of the different (slang) word dyke, meaning ‘a lesbian’ …   Modern English usage

  • Dyke — (spr. daik), Sir William Hart , Baronet, engl. Staatsmann, geb. 1837, studierte in Oxford und wurde 1865 ins Unterhaus gewählt, wo er der konservativen Partei beitrat. Er war von 1874–80 Sekretär im Schatzamt unter Lord Beaconsfield und fungierte …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Dyke —   [daɪk, englisch] der, (s)/ s, Dike [daɪk], Geologie: Gang …   Universal-Lexikon

  • dyke — dike [daık] n [Sense: 1, 3; Origin: Old English dic ditch, dike ] [Sense: 2; Date: 1900 2000; Origin: Probably from morphadyke male and female person, homosexual (1900 2000), from hermaphrodite] 1.) a wall or bank built to keep back water and… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • dyke — [ daık ] noun count 1. ) OFFENSIVE an offensive word for a LESBIAN (=woman who is gay) 2. ) another spelling of dike …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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