trench
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
trench/trentʃ/
▶noun
- 1 a long, narrow ditch.
■ a ditch of this type dug by troops to provide shelter from enemy fire.
- 2 (also ocean trench) a long, narrow, deep depression in the ocean bed, typically running parallel to a plate boundary and marking a subduction zone.
- 1 dig a trench or trenches in.
- 2 (trench on/upon) archaic border closely on; encroach upon.
– origin ME (in the senses ‘track cut through a wood’ and ‘sever by cutting’): from OFr. trenche (n.), trenchier (v.), based on L. truncare (see truncate).
'trench' also found in these Oxford entries:
dig
- dugout
- fire step
- fosse
- furrow
- gravlax
- land drain
- parapet
- parsnip
- sap
- slit trench
- top
- traverse
- trenchant
- trench coat
- trencher
- trench fever
- trench foot
- trench mortar
- trench mouth
- trench warfare
