Library / English Dictionary

TRENCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("trench" is a kind of...):

ditch (a long narrow excavation in the earth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "trench"):

approach trench; communication trench (a trench that provides protected passage between the rear and front lines of a defensive position)

fire trench (a trench especially constructed for the delivery of small-arms fire)

fosse; moat (ditch dug as a fortification and usually filled with water)

slit trench (narrow trench for shelter in battle)

Holonyms ("trench" is a part of...):

entrenchment; intrenchment (an entrenched fortification; a position protected by trenches)

Derivation:

trench (fortify by surrounding with trenches)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any long ditch cut in the ground

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("trench" is a kind of...):

ditch (a long narrow excavation in the earth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "trench"):

furrow (a long shallow trench in the ground (especially one made by a plow))

Derivation:

trench (dig a trench or trenches)

trench (cut a trench in, as for drainage)

trench (set, plant, or bury in a trench)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A long steep-sided depression in the ocean floor

Synonyms:

deep; oceanic abyss; trench

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("trench" is a kind of...):

depression; natural depression (a sunken or depressed geological formation)

Instance hyponyms:

Atacama Trench (a depression in the floor of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile)

Bougainville Trench (a depression in the floor of the Pacific Ocean between New Guinea and the Solomon Islands)

Japan Trench (a depression in the floor of the Pacific Ocean to the northeast of Japan that reaches depths of 30,000 feet)

Nares Deep (a depression in the floor of the Atlantic Ocean to the north of Haiti and Puerto Rico)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Dig a trench or trenches

Example:

The National Guardsmen were sent out to trench

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "trench" is one way to...):

dig; dig out (create by digging)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

trench (any long ditch cut in the ground)

trencher (someone who digs trenches)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cut a trench in, as for drainage

Example:

trench the fields

Synonyms:

ditch; trench

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "trench" is one way to...):

dig; excavate; hollow (remove the inner part or the core of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

trench (any long ditch cut in the ground)

trencher (someone who digs trenches)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Set, plant, or bury in a trench

Example:

trench the vegetables

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "trench" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

trench (any long ditch cut in the ground)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Cut or carve deeply into

Example:

letters trenched into the stone

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "trench" is one way to...):

cut (separate with or as if with an instrument)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

trencher (a wooden board or platter on which food is served or carved)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Fortify by surrounding with trenches

Example:

He trenched his military camp

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "trench" is one way to...):

fort; fortify (enclose by or as if by a fortification)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

trench (a ditch dug as a fortification having a parapet of the excavated earth)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Impinge or infringe upon

Example:

This matter entrenches on other domains

Synonyms:

encroach; entrench; impinge; trench

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "trench" is one way to...):

take advantage; trespass (make excessive use of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

As much as 19 percent more carbon dioxide than previously believed is removed naturally and stored deep underground in seafloor trenches near island chains of volcanoes, according to scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Rutgers University and other institutions.

(Major deep carbon sink linked to microbes at volcanic island chains, National Science Foundation)

The new seismic observations paint a more detailed picture of the Pacific Plate bending into the trench, resolving its 3D structure and tracking the relative speeds of types of rock that have different capabilities for holding water.

(Seismic study reveals huge amount of water dragged into Earth’s interior, National Science Foundation)

Slow-motion collisions of tectonic plates under the ocean drag about three times more water down into the deep Earth than previously estimated, according to a first-of-its-kind seismic study that spans the Mariana Trench, a crescent-shaped trench in the Western Pacific that measures 1,500 miles long and is the deepest ocean trench in the world.

(Seismic study reveals huge amount of water dragged into Earth’s interior, National Science Foundation)