trough

American  

[trawf, trof, trawth, troth] / trɔf, trɒf, trɔθ, trɒθ /

noun

troughs plural

1. a long, narrow, open receptacle, usually boxlike in shape, used chiefly to hold water or food for animals.

2. any of several similarly shaped receptacles used for various commercial or household purposes.

3. a channel or conduit for conveying water, as a gutter under the eaves of a building for carrying away rainwater.

4. any long depression or hollow, as between two ridges or waves.

5. Oceanography. a long, wide, and deep depression in the ocean floor having gently sloping sides, wider and shallower than a trench.

6. Meteorology. an elongated area of relatively low pressure.

7. the lowest point, especially in an economic cycle.

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trough British  

/ trɒf /

noun

1. a narrow open container, esp one in which food or water for animals is put

2. a narrow channel, gutter, or gulley

3. a narrow depression either in the land surface, ocean bed, or between two successive waves

4. meteorol an elongated area of low pressure, esp an extension of a depression Compare ridge

5. a single or temporary low point; depression

6. physics the portion of a wave, such as a light wave, in which the amplitude lies below its average value

7. economics the lowest point or most depressed stage of the trade cycle

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verb

1. informal (intr) to eat, consume, or take greedily

trough Scientific  

/ trôf /

1. The part of a wave with the least magnitude; the lowest part of a wave.

2. Compare crest See more at wave

3. A narrow, elongated region of relatively low atmospheric pressure occurring at the ground surface or in the upper atmosphere, and often associated with a front.

4. Compare ridge

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• troughlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• troughs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of trough

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English trōh; cognate with Dutch, German, Old Norse trog

Explanation

If you live on a farm, you already know that a trough is what animals eat out of. The word actually refers to the shape of the container, and can mean anything that is low and hollowed out — like a curve on a graph or a depression in the ground. In the olden days, people, like animals, ate from troughs. Gradually, we got fancy enough to divide our food between bowls and plates, but there is some lingering connection between the idea of trough and rough, peasant living.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trough troughs

But that shows how keen they are to get their snouts in the trough of Musk’s future equity sales.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

An upper level trough across the Pacific Northwest, which has been keeping temperatures cooler, is expected to break down, according to the National Weather Service.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026

But with stocks now more than 16% higher than their late March trough, and the first-quarter earnings season largely finished, the mood on Wall Street is expected to switch quickly.

From Barron's ● May 7, 2026

“We exceeded expectations as demand strengthened through the quarter and we have moved beyond the cyclical trough on a path to recovery,” Chief Executive Hassane El-Khoury said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026

Thrilled with himself, he bounded forward in such intense excitement that he bumped straight into Deydey at the side of a kettle, just as he was pouring boiling-hot syrup into a sugaring trough!

From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich

Mexican government forecasters say troughs - small-scale low pressure features - are expected in the middle and upper layers of the atmosphere over central parts of Mexico on Sunday, making the atmosphere very unstable.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

At the troughs of this structure, there were notable bullish reactions, including a harami in September 2024 and a bullish engulfing candle in April 2025, both of which previously triggered strong upside moves.

From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026

Horses and livestock need their troughs filled daily, forecasters said, as consumption can double in the heat.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026

“Convoluted Line A” and “Convoluted Line B” are metal troughs set into a raised concrete platform, their winding forms charting a course that visitors must circumvent.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

For certain wavelengths the crests of the waves reflected from one side of the soap film coincide with the troughs reflected from the other side.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

Related Words

• trench