trench

¹ 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 ² American  

[trench] / trɛntʃ /

noun

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

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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

Believe me, I say this as someone who has been in the beige trenches.

From Salon

Those motions build mountain ranges, carve deep ocean trenches, and fuel volcanic activity around the Pacific.

From Science Daily

For a week, Steller, who lost his home in the fire, parked his Toyota 4Runner over a recently dug trench.

From Los Angeles Times

“Things are shifting and changing very dramatically and permanently and you want people who’ve been in the trenches facing these decisions.”

From The Wall Street Journal

One senior Labour figure describes it as "gang warfare", saying, "you rely on people who have been in the trenches with you and been through battles and that means you are exclusive rather than inclusive".

From BBC

Related Words

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