Fortification. a long, narrow excavation in the ground, the earth from which is thrown up in front to serve as a shelter from enemy fire or attack.
trenches, a system of such excavations, with their embankments, etc.
a deep furrow, ditch, or cut.
Oceanography. a long, steep-sided, narrow depression in the ocean floor.
to surround or fortify with trenches; entrench.
to cut a trench in.
to set or place in a trench.
to form (a furrow, ditch, etc.) by cutting into or through something.
to make a cut in; cut into; carve.
a deep ditch or furrow
a ditch dug as a fortification, having a parapet of the excavated earth
to make a trench in (a place)
(tr) to fortify with a trench or trenches
to slash or be slashed
(intr; foll by on or upon) to encroach or verge
1350–1400; Middle English trenche path made by cutting < Old French: act of cutting, a cut, derivative of trenchier to cut < Vulgar Latin *trincāre , for Latin truncāre to lop; see truncate
A trench is a deep and narrow hole, or ditch, in the ground, like the kind soldiers on frontlines might dig to give themselves shelter from the enemy. A natural trench may also be a deep hole on the bottom of the ocean. The verb trench means to dig or to cut into, but you will most often hear the word as a noun, particularly relating to soldiers. The phrase trench warfare became popular around World War I, when technological advances in weapons changed the way that wars were fought. Today, you may have even own a trench coat, a kind of raincoat first worn by soldiers.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Cotabato Trench, which lies as close as 50 kilometres off Mindanao, is the site of frequent seismic activity, including a "swarm" of thousands of mostly small tremors recorded in January.
From Barron's • Jun. 19, 2026
Style tip: Trench coats never truly go out of style, so you can be sure if you invest in one that you'll certainly get enough wear out of it.
From BBC • Dec. 27, 2025
Some years later, you may recall, he made a solo dive in a submersible to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
From Slate • Dec. 9, 2025
To put this in perspective, one gigapascal is roughly ten thousand times the pressure of Earth's atmosphere at sea level, or about ten times the pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
From Science Daily • Nov. 20, 2025
Trench warfare was not what eager volunteers had expected when they signed up to fight on the Western Front.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
