trench
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.
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.
to dig a trench.
trench on / upon
to encroach or infringe on.
to come close to; verge on: His remarks were trenching on poor taste.
Origin of trench
1Other words from trench
- subtrench, noun
- un·trenched, adjective
Other definitions for Trench (2 of 2)
Richard Chen·e·vix [shen-uh-vee], /ˈʃɛn ə vi/, 1807–86, English clergyman and scholar, born in Ireland.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for trench
/ (trɛntʃ) /
a deep ditch or furrow
a ditch dug as a fortification, having a parapet of the excavated earth
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
Origin of trench
1- See also trenches
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
Scientific definitions for 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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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