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trenches

 - 4 dictionary results

trench

[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)
5. to surround or fortify with trenches; entrench.
6. to cut a trench in.
7. to set or place in a trench.
8. to form (a furrow, ditch, etc.) by cutting into or through something.
9. to make a cut in; cut into; carve.
–verb (used without object)
10. to dig a trench.
11. trench on or upon,
a. to encroach or infringe on.
b. to come close to; verge on: His remarks were trenching on poor taste.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME trenche path made by cutting < OF: act of cutting, a cut, deriv. of trenchier to cut < VL *trincāre, for L truncāre to lop; see truncate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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trench   (trěnch)   
n.  
  1. A deep furrow or ditch.

  2. A long narrow ditch embanked with its own soil and used for concealment and protection in warfare.

  3. A long, steep-sided valley on the ocean floor.

v.   trenched, trench·ing, trench·es

v.   tr.
  1. To cut a trench in.

  2. To fortify with trenches.

  3. To place in a trench.

  4. To make a cut in; carve.

v.   intr.
  1. To dig trenches or a trench.

  2. To verge or encroach. Often used with on or upon.


[Middle English trenche, from Old French, from trenchier, to cut, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *trincāre, variant of Latin truncāre, from truncus, trunk; see terə-2 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

trench 
c.1386, "track cut through a wood," later "long, narrow ditch" (1489), from O.Fr. trenche "a slice, ditch" (1288), from trenchier "to cut," possibly from V.L. *trincare, from L. truncare "to cut or lop off" (see truncate). Trenches for military protection are first so called c.1500. Trench warfare first attested 1918. Trench-coat first recorded 1916, a type of coat worn by British officers in the trenches.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Science Dictionary
trench   (trěnch)  Pronunciation Key 
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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