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• trench
  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
  Trench

  noun

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

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; 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.

Example Sentences

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

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

Among them is Veleropilina gretchenae, a newly identified mollusk recovered from the Aleutian Trench at 6,465 meters.

From Science Daily • Nov. 2, 2025

Temperatures can reach more than 400 degrees Fahrenheit; the pressure can be as high as at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, the deepest point in the world’s oceans.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 29, 2025

But it wasn’t just furniture and buildings that had shifted—when the Japan Trench ruptured, the shape of the entire planet changed.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

Related Words

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