trench
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Any long ditch cut in the ground.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
trehnchIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtɹɛntʃ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
usually followed by upon
To invade, especially with regard to the rights or the exclusive authority of another; to encroach.
To cut furrows or ditches in.
To cut; to form or shape by cutting; to make by incision, hewing, etc.
Cut or carve deeply into
To dig or cultivate very deeply, usually by digging parallel contiguous trenches in succession, filling each from the next.
“The National Guardsmen were sent out to trench.”
militaryinfantry
To excavate an elongated pit for protection of soldiers and or equipment, usually perpendicular to the line of sight toward the enemy.
noun
Any long ditch cut in the ground
A long, narrow ditch or hole dug in the ground.
military
A narrow excavation as used in warfare, as a cover for besieging or emplaced forces.
informal
A trench coat.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Any long ditch cut in the ground
Used this way, trench is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use trench
- “The National Guardsmen were sent out to trench.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Marked by pain in muscles and joints and transmitted by lice.
Resembling frostbite but without freezing.
A knife with a double-edged blade for hand-to-hand fighting.
A muzzle-loading high-angle gun with a short barrel that fires shells at high elevations for a short range.
An acute communicable infection of the respiratory tract and mouth marked by ulceration of the mucous membrane.
A struggle (usually prolonged) between competing entities in which neither side is able to win.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A hand shovel carried by infantrymen for digging trenches.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to invade or especially with regard to the rights
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