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.

---

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

---

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

---

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

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

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

But despite “all of the saber-rattling,” U.S. oil prices are still “closer to their trough than their peak” for the year.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

A bullish engulfing candle defined the lows in April 2025, and a hammer off the very round $100 level in April 2026, filling a gap from July 2025, again marked a trough.

From Barron's ● Jun. 13, 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

To add to the glamour, the trough was completely plugged up, overflowing with soggy toilet paper and candy wrappers and other unrecognizable debris.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

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

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

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

Run to the troughs; run to the flag; run up the hill.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Related Words

• trench