trench
noun
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.
trench
1 American
[trench]
/ trɛntʃ /
noun
-
trenches
plural
-
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.
verb (used with object)
-
trenches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
trenched,
past participle, past
-
trenching
present participle
-
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.
verb (used without object)
-
trenches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
trenched,
past participle, past
-
trenching
present participle
verb phrase
Trench
2
American
[trench]
/ trɛntʃ /
noun
trench
British
/ trɛntʃ /
noun
-
a deep ditch or furrow
-
a ditch dug as a fortification, having a parapet of the excavated earth
verb
-
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
trench
Scientific
/ trĕnch /
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
trenchsimple
-
trenchessimple
-
have trenchedperfect
-
has trenchedperfect
-
am trenchingprogressive
-
are trenchingprogressive
-
is trenchingprogressive
-
have been trenchingperfect progressive
-
has been trenchingperfect progressive
Past
-
trenchedsimple
-
had trenchedperfect
-
was trenchingprogressive
-
were trenchingprogressive
-
had been trenchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of trench
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
Explanation
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.
Vocabulary lists containing trench
Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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Plate Tectonics - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The kind of groove your tires make driving to Big Bear in December without chains: an icy trench filled with frustration, exhaustion and everyday sludge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
The scene where Harris approached a captured bug, rocking an ankle-length black trench coat with his blonde hair in a close crew cut, was the closest “Troopers” came to clubbing the audience in the ribs.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
The whales were believed to have died in such numbers in this particular area because it is a popular foraging habitat -- and has a V-shaped trench that funnels carcasses to the seafloor.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
The trench, which is a source of huge quakes, generated a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in 1976, triggering a tsunami that killed about 5,000 people.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
About five feet under the trench, the pipe going to our house must have burst and turned all the surrounding dirt into sewage.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
Judah explained that the Tonga Trench sighting also establishes a new depth record for the entire order of Lamniformes, also known as the mackerel sharks.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
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
While it’s a major accomplishment, Trench and Jensen note that the value of $1 million will be reduced in those 15 years due to inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 30, 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
Before 2011, most scientists believed that the Japan Trench could not produce an earthquake stronger than magnitude 7.5.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
The battle in the trenches will be memorable, with Orange Lutheran’s offensive line, led by Texas-bound Lucas Rhoa, taking on Sierra Canyon’s outstanding defensive line that includes former Lancer Marcus Fakatou, who wears No. 99.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Many employers now expect managers to do less coordinating between departments, and to spend more time in the trenches building products or generating revenue themselves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
He gained a reputation for courage bordering on recklessness, ever-present in frontline trenches and personally leading expeditions to clear mines.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Polish and German soldiers worked for five weeks at the frontier to dig trenches, lay barbed wire and place long lines of concrete barriers known as "hedgehogs" across the landscape.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
She went from high school to digging trenches, then escorted other citizens to shelter during Leningrad’s long siege of bombing and starvation.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
After clearing swaths of torched aloe plants, he trenched in about 500 native plants that he said “will look spectacular in a few years.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025
“Areas that they may have trenched out and are working in could fill in with not just water but with more debris,” Fugate said.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 2, 2021
And he was as equally unhappy during construction, when the company trenched up his manicured yard to run the pipeline 60 feet from the front door of his family’s 5-year-old brick home.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 29, 2017
Technically, the ditches are considered Oakmont’s only water hazards, even if the fast-moving groundwater rarely remains in the trenched channels long enough to puddle.
From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2016
Many of the fair’s fifty-seven miles of roadway were still either submerged or coated with mud, and others had been gouged and trenched by vehicles that had used the roads while they were still sodden.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Amy Bodek, the county’s regional planning director, recently warned Edison that a government ordinance protects oak trees and that “utility trenching is not exempt from these requirements.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
City of Shoreline permitting records online didn’t contain information Tuesday about what kind of worker protection was used in the trenching site.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 5, 2022
They were used to using machinery and trenching and those skills were transferrable to cemeteries.
From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2022
“He started trenching, picking, and ordered up drilling,” said Mr. Kabongo.
From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2021
Tools for emergency, tow lines, a small block and tackle, a trenching tool and crowbar, tools for making and fixing and improvising.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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.
