trench

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a long, narrow ditch dug in the ground

   Workers dug a trench for the new water pipe.

2. 2
   noun

   a protected military ditch from which soldiers fight or take cover

   The soldiers sheltered in the trench during the bombardment.

3. 3
   noun

   a long, very deep depression in the ocean floor

   The research vessel mapped the edge of the ocean trench.

4. 4
   verb

   to dig a trench in or around a place

   The crew will trench the field before laying the drainage pipes.

From Middle English trenche, borrowed from Old French trenche, 'a cut or ditch,' from trenchier, 'to cut.' It shares this cutting ancestry with tranche and trenchant.

Topics