trench

noun \ ˈtrench \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Definition of trench

1 a : a long cut in the ground : ditch; especially : one used for military defense often with the excavated dirt thrown up in front

b trenches plural : a place, position, or level at which an activity is carried on in a manner likened to trench warfare —often used in the phrase in the trenches

activists working in the trenches

2 : a long, narrow, and usually steep-sided depression in the ocean floor — compare trough

3 : trench coat

See trench defined for English-language learners

See trench defined for kids

Examples of trench in a Sentence

dug a trench and filled it with water in an attempt to keep the forest fire off her property

Recent Examples of trench from the Web

In addition, leading with your head in the trenches often leads to failure for lineman on either side of the ball.

— larry holder, NOLA.com, "Safety, skepticism come with NFL's crown of the helmet rule," 6 June 2018
The troops serving in the trenches in during the first Christmas of the World War I were reportedly sent these Colonies Gift Tins.

— arun lal, Fox News, "WWI hero's 103-year-old Cadbury chocolates expected to fetch tasty price at auction," 4 June 2018
In Battlefield 1 that included a take on Lawrence of Arabia, a crawl through the muddy trenches of France, and a fight atop a crashing zeppelin.

— hayden dingman, PCWorld, "Battlefield V returns to WWII with no plans for a premium season pass," 23 May 2018
As the flag was being raised on Mount Suribachi, Williams was crawling through trenches with a 70-pound flamethrower taking out enemy pillboxes.

— robert steiner, BostonGlobe.com, "Bikers to ride in support of wounded veterans," 18 May 2018
German and British tanks were mainly designed as offensive weapons to fight dug-in infantry in trenches, with machine guns to engage the infantry and field guns to destroy bunkers and other fortifications.

— kyle mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The First Tank-on-Tank Battle Happened 100 Years Ago," 26 Apr. 2018
Place the crowns in the trenches 1½ to 2 feet apart; top them with 2 to 3 inches of soil.

— the editors of organic life, Good Housekeeping, "How To Grow Asparagus," 6 Mar. 2017
Butler sees trends in the trenches before the data is documented.

— bill zimmerman, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Orlando jobs come with rising wages, better benefits — in certain lines of work," 25 May 2018
Jones owns an excavation contracting business that currently does much of its business grading and digging trenches for solar energy projects.

— hillary borrud, OregonLive.com, "Kate Brown poised for easy win in Democratic primary, thanks to union support," 5 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'trench.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of trench

Middle English trenche track cut through a wood, from Anglo-French, act of cutting, ditch, from trencher, trenchier to cut, probably from Vulgar Latin *trinicare to cut in three, from Latin trini three each — more at trine

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year