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View synonyms for

trench

1

[ trench ]

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.


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. to encroach or infringe on.
    2. to come close to; verge on:

      His remarks were trenching on poor taste.

Trench

2

[ trench ]

noun

  1. Richard Chen·e·vix [shen, -, uh, -vee], 1807–86, English clergyman and scholar, born in Ireland.

trench

/ ٰɛԳʃ /

noun

  1. a deep ditch or furrow
  2. a ditch dug as a fortification, having a parapet of the excavated earth
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

trench

  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

  • ܲtԳ noun
  • ܲ·ٰԳ adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of trench1

1350–1400; Middle English trenche path made by cutting < Old French: act of cutting, a cut, derivative of trenchier to cut < Vulgar Latin *ٰԳ , for Latin ٰܲԳ to lop; truncate
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Word History and Origins

Origin of trench1

C14: from Old French trenche something cut, from trenchier to cut, from Latin ٰܲԳ to cut off
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

He stands at 6ft2in, has a stocky build and grey hair and was last seen wearing a long black trench coat, grey trousers and waistcoat, blue shirt, brown shoes and a red and white tie.

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Next it's a painstakingly complex procedure, lowering the elements 40 metres down into a trench dug out on the seafloor, using underwater cameras and GPS-guided equipment, to line it up with 15mm precision.

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Three trenches were selected for excavation with volunteers digging, scraping and brushing deep into the earth in search of evidence.

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They’ve narrowly escaped family abuse and the German trenches of the Great War.

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At Amata’s facilities, where companies make solar panels, electronics and car parts about 120 miles from China’s borders, workers continued to dig trenches around empty lots in preparation for the installation of utilities.

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