▪ I. sitch Now dial.
(sɪtʃ)
Forms: 1 sic, 4, 6 syche, 5–7 siche, 6 sucche, 7 sich, 9 sech, seech; 6 sytche, 7 sytch; 6–7 sitche, 9 sitch.
[OE. s{iacu}c, giving normally ME. sīch(e, siche in southern and midland dialects, corresponding to the northern sike n.1; cf. ditch and dike.]
1. = sike n.1 1.
Chiefly recorded in descriptions of boundaries.
| 969 in Birch Cartul. Sax. III. 535 Of þam mere west..þonne innan anne sice þonne andlangc sices þæt cymð to þæm hor pytte. [? c 1160 in Dugdale Mon. Angl. (1825) V. 584 In viis, et aquis, in sichis et moris.] c 1315 Shoreham v. 177 Ine flom iordanes syche He was ycrystned. 1410 Coventry Leet Bk. 12 Et abhinc vsque Merdonsiche. Et sic per illam siche diuertendo vsque [etc.]. 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. 10 b, Some rynning waters be commen, as lytell brokes, and sytches. Ibid. 50 Smale ryuers, brokes, sucches,..and pyttes. 1581 Coventry Leet Bk. (E.E.T.S.) 826 A litle waye into the sitche there, called Sisley-hole,..& vnder the bridge vp the sitche to Hyndwell. 1601 in Ch. Stretton (1904) II. 195 Thence following the fylde..and then up a sytch called Newe sytch. 1637 in Miss Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. s.v., Half a land in the Barley field near Stafford's siche. 1684 Manley, Sichetum.., a Sich or small Current of Water that uses to be dry in the Summer. 1826– in dialect glossaries (Chesh., Northampt., Shropsh., Sheff.). |
| attrib. 1601 in Ch. Stretton (1904) II. 196 Over Wittingslow Heath to Dunocke sytch heade. |
b. = sike n.1 1 b.
| 1888 Abdy Sheffield Gloss. 214 It is a gate at the bottom of a sitch or ravine. |
2. = sike n.1 2.
| 1842 W. Wood Hist. & Antiq. Eyam (1848) 114 A gravestone..found in a field which is now called Philip's sitch. |
▪ II. sitch
dial. or illiterate f. such a.
▪ III. sitch, n.2 slang (orig. U.S.).
Brit. /sɪtʃ/, U.S. /sɪtʃ/
[Shortened <situation n.]
Situation; state of affairs.
| 1989 Los Angeles Times 17 Aug. v. 5/1 Suppose they opened a nightclub and everybody wanted to come? That was the sitch when the disco-y China club officially opened Tuesday night in Hollywood. 1992 J. Whedon Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film script) 18 Buffy! Hey, what's the sitch?!? Wake up! 2001 Cosmopolitan Feb. 262 (heading) Searching for that perfect phrase to describe your out-of-control crush or a recent dating dilemma? This list of lingo will give you the right term for every romantic sitch. |