trench

[ trench ]

/ trɛntʃ /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR trench ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

trenches, a system of such excavations, with their embankments, etc.

a deep furrow, ditch, or cut.

Oceanography. a long, steep-sided, narrow depression in the ocean floor.

verb (used with object)

to surround or fortify with trenches; entrench.

to cut a trench in.

to set or place in a trench.

to form (a furrow, ditch, etc.) by cutting into or through something.

to make a cut in; cut into; carve.

verb (used without object)

to dig a trench.

Verb Phrases

trench on/upon,

to encroach or infringe on.
to come close to; verge on: His remarks were trenching on poor taste.

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

OTHER WORDS FROM trench

sub·trench, noun un·trenched, adjective

Words nearby trench

tremolo arm, tremor, tremulant, tremulous, trenail, trench, trench coat, trench fever, trench foot, trench knife, trench mortar

Example sentences from the Web for trenches

Comedians are in the trenches, the ones that get out of the trenches are ones in trouble.

Joan Rivers: Our Last Interview |Tim Teeman |September 4, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
But it is often in the trenches that the truth is most apparent.

The AHA’s Absurd Saturated Fat Obsession |Dr. Barbara H. Roberts |June 3, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Soon troops from both sides exited the trenches, met their enemies in peace and even agreed not to fire on one another.

Blood and Mud: A French Soldier’s WWI Memoir Vividly Describes Trench Warfare |Marc Wortman |May 1, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
They fall backwards into trenches, the camera jolting with the concussive force of the explosions.

WWII Lies of Hollywood's Greats |Caryn James |February 22, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

In the cold, the German and British soldiers climbed out of their trenches at a place called Mons.

The Fourth War: My Lunch with a Jihadi |Elliot Ackerman |January 21, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
To get information before the Somme offensive, the new idea of making daylight raids on the German trenches was adopted.

500 of the Best Cockney War Stories |Various
We passed some of the trenches which our boys had taken that morning.

Over the top with the 25th |R. Lewis
I knew that if they took the trench I was in it would be a bad job for our trenches behind.

The Irish at the Front |Michael MacDonagh
The trenches in diplomatic warfare must be manned by regular trenchermen.

Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 2, No. 12, May, 1851. |Various
Not a shot was fired by the Canadians, and they quietly crept back, gaining their trenches with comparatively little loss.

War's Brighter Side |Julian Ralph.

British Dictionary definitions for trenches (1 of 2)

trenches

/ (ˈtrɛntʃɪz) /

pl n

a system of excavations used for the protection of troops, esp those (the Trenches) used at the front line in World War I

British Dictionary definitions for trenches (2 of 2)

trench

/ (trɛntʃ) /

noun

a deep ditch or furrow

a ditch dug as a fortification, having a parapet of the excavated earth

verb

to make a trench in (a place)

(tr) to fortify with a trench or trenches

to slash or be slashed

(intr; foll by on or upon) to encroach or verge

Word Origin for trench

C14: from Old French trenche something cut, from trenchier to cut, from Latin truncāre to cut off

Scientific definitions for trenches

trench

[ trĕnch ]

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.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

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trench