put one's finger in the dyke

verb

To attempt to temporarily stop or stem an impending disaster, particularly when the effort is too small to fully address the scale of the problem.

Similar
put one's finger in a hole
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Meanings

verbput one's finger in the dyke (third-person singular simple present puts one's finger in the dyke, present participle putting one's finger in the dyke, simple past and past participle put one's finger in the dyke)

present singular third person puts one's finger in the dyke · participle present putting one's finger in the dyke

  1. idiomaticinformalTo attempt to temporarily stop or stem an impending disaster, particularly when the effort is too small to fully address the scale of the problem.

    Synonyms: put one's finger in a hole

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo attempt to temporarily stop or stem an impending disaster, particularly when the effort is too small to fully address the scale of the problem.

Similar
put one's finger in a hole
Also see
put one's finger in a hole
Cite this entry
APA

put one's finger in the dyke. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20one's%20finger%20in%20the%20dyke

MLA

“put one's finger in the dyke.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20one's%20finger%20in%20the%20dyke. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “put one's finger in the dyke,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20one's%20finger%20in%20the%20dyke.

Source: put one's finger in the dyke on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.