| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| dike, dyke (n., v.) |
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| A dike is an embankment designed to retain water or keep it out, and it is also used as the name of several other related or analogous structures. To dike is to make a dike. These words are Standard. But dike also is a variant spelling of the taboo word dyke, an offensive slang name for “a female homosexual, a lesbian, particularly one with masculine qualities.” | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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