le fossé (fo-say) noun, masculine            View from the garden
  1. ditch, trench, drain; gap

Expressions:
sauter le fossé = to make a risky decision
le fossé culturel = the cultural gap
le fossé entre les générations = the generation gap

saigner un fossé = to drain a ditch

Proverb
Ne triomphe pas avant d’avoir franchi le fossé.
Don’t rejoice before crossing over the gap.

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A Day in a French Life….

(The story that originally appeared here, along with the vocabulary below, is now a part of this book. Don’t miss it!)

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French vocabulary from the vignette that appeared along with today’s word: sans mur = without a wall; le terrain (m) = land; littéralement = literally; la fourchette (f) = fork; cette fois-ci = this time; le pas (m) = step; le pied (m) = foot; la globe-trotteuse (f) = globetrotter; le soutien-gorge (m) = bra; sans sein = without a breast; le coeur (m) = heart; wet chicken (la poule mouillée = French for "coward"); meubler = to furnish; le pépin (m) = snag; le jardin (m) = garden; le fossé (m) = ditch; le cabanon (m) = shed; en main = in hand; Santé = To your health! (Cheers!)

a drainage ditch is une rigole d’écoulement

an open ditch is une douve

hedging and ditching in French is l’entretien des haies et fossés
and ditchwater, in French is l’eaux stagnantes

Finally, when something is "dull as ditchwater" it is ennuyeux comme la pluie