sike
/saɪk/
sike noun: a gutter or ditch; a small stream that frequently dries up in the summer; the marshy ground or ditch through which such a stream flows. Also the alternative form of psych..
Noun (1)
sike (plural sikes)
- A gutter or ditch; a small stream that frequently dries up in the summer; the marshy ground or ditch through which such a stream flows.
- The swankies lap thro' mire and syke, Wow as their heads did birr!1809, John Skinner, Amusements of Leisure Hours, or Poetical Pieces, chiefly in the Scottish dialect, page 41
- [...] a great gathering o' their folk at the Miry-sikes, […]1820, Walter Scott, Tales of My Landlord: 2nd Series, Collectd and Arranged by Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseud.], page 6
Verb
sike (third-person singular simple present sikes, present participle siking, simple past and past participle siked)
Noun (2)
sike (plural sikes)
- A sigh.
Determiner
sike
- Such.
- She macks sike warke.(Can we date this quote?), (Please provide the book title or journal name)
Also used as
sike is also the alternative form of psych..
Forms of sike
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | sikes |
| alternative form | syke |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | sikes |
| present participle | siking |
| past participle | siked |
| past | siked |
Origin of sike
From Northern Middle English sike, from Old English sīċ (see sitch), possibly also from or related to Old Norse sík; both from Proto-Germanic *sīką (“slow flowing water; trickle”). Cognate with Norwegian sik. Compare Scots sheuch.
From Middle English siken, from Old English sīcan (“to sigh”), from Proto-West Germanic *sīkan (“to sigh”). Doublet of sigh.
Pronunciation respelling of psych.
Words that rhyme with sike
Questions about sike
- What does sike mean?
- Sike means a gutter or ditch; a small stream that frequently dries up in the summer; the marshy ground or ditch through which such a stream flows.
- What part of speech is sike?
- Sike can be a noun, a verb or a determiner.
- How do you pronounce sike?
- Sike is pronounced /saɪk/.
- What is the plural of sike?
- The plural of sike is sikes.
Words near sike in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sike (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-ca-psych.opus.
Cite this entry: “sike.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sike. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.