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

That’s still about 7 million to 8 million barrels a day below pre-war levels, but 5 million to 6 million barrels a day above a March trough, Goldman Sachs said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

That moisture is being pulled northward by an upper-level trough — a low-pressure area in the atmosphere — and the resulting instability may produce thunderstorms and showers, she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

"I was just in a trough, drowning in uncertainty," says Walaa Volidis, a Palestinian software engineer.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

And in contrast to traditional views of a temporary disruption, the ECB found "the reduction in output is prolonged and even intensifies, reaching a trough of 1.5 percent lower after two years".

From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026

I’d slop the pigs and fill the trough for the cows and horses, then I’d hop over the corral fence, loop around the barn and step through Grandma’s side door.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

"We do have peaks and troughs in performance. Most nations do if you look at it," England Hockey chief executive Rich Beer told BBC Sport.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 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

That lower high, coupled with the fresh low hit last week, extends the pattern of lower peaks and lower troughs that many chart watchers say defines a downtrend.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 14, 2026

What the pair found was a desert highway that rolls up and down, like an asphalt serpent, with deadly blind peaks and treacherous hidden troughs.

From Barron's ● Mar. 8, 2026

When they arrived, Henrietta and the cousins would help unhitch the horses and fill their troughs with grain, then unload the family’s tobacco onto the wood-plank floor of the warehouse.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Related Words

• trench