Trench

¹ American  

[trench] / trɛntʃ /

noun

1. Richard Chenevix 1807–86, English clergyman and scholar, born in Ireland.

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trench ² American  

[trench] / trɛntʃ /

noun

1. 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.

2. trenches, a system of such excavations, with their embankments, etc.

3. a deep furrow, ditch, or cut.

4. Oceanography. a long, steep-sided, narrow depression in the ocean floor.

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verb (used with object)

1. to surround or fortify with trenches; entrench.

2. to cut a trench in.

3. to set or place in a trench.

4. to form (a furrow, ditch, etc.) by cutting into or through something.

5. to make a cut in; cut into; carve.

verb (used without object)

1. to dig a trench.

verb phrase

1. trench on / upon

   1. to encroach or infringe on.

   2. to come close to; verge on.

      His remarks were trenching on poor taste.

trench British  

/ trɛntʃ /

noun

1. a deep ditch or furrow

2. a ditch dug as a fortification, having a parapet of the excavated earth

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verb

1. to make a trench in (a place)

2. (tr) to fortify with a trench or trenches

3. to slash or be slashed

4. (intr; foll by on or upon) to encroach or verge

trench Scientific  

/ trĕnch /

1. A long, steep-sided valley on the ocean floor. Trenches form when one tectonic plate slides beneath another plate at a subduction zone. The Marianas Trench, located in the western Pacific east of the Philippines, is the deepest known trench (10,924 m or 35,831 ft) and the deepest area in the ocean.

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Other Word Forms

• subtrench noun
• untrenched adjective

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; truncate

Example Sentences

He showed up outside James’s Brooklyn home in a trench coat resembling that of TV police lieutenant Columbo and posed for photos that appeared in the media.

From The Wall Street Journal

Great every time though, he rips and clearly has some behind-the-scenes buzz from the songwriter trenches.

From Los Angeles Times

The lawn is cut with trenches for people to jump in when Hitler’s bombs start falling.

From Literature

Playfully lifting the corner of her long trench coat, Yeromina showed how she had layered up to stay warm.

From Barron's

Under chief executive Joshua Schulman, Burberry has refocused on its staple outerwear, including its famed trench coats, in a bid to improve its fortunes.

From Barron's

Related Words

• dike
• foxhole
• gorge
• gully
• moat
• pit
• trough
• waterway