trench

English

Wikipedia

A British trench during World War I.

Etymology

From Old French trenchier (“cut, make a cut”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tɹɛntʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɛntʃ

Noun

trench (plural trenches)

1. A long, narrow ditch or hole dug in the ground, especially in warfare.
2. (archaeology) A pit, usually rectangular with smooth walls and floor, excavated during an archaeological investigation.
3. (informal) A trench coat.
   • 1999, April 24, Xiphias Gladius <ian@schultz.io.com>, "Re: trenchcoat mafia", ne.general.selected, Usenet:

     I was the first person in my high school to wear a trench and fedora constantly, and Ben was one of the first to wear a black trench.

   • 2007, Nina Garcia, The Little Black Book of Style, HarperCollins, as excerpted in Elle, October, page 138:

     A classic trench can work in any kind of weather and goes well with almost anything.

Derived terms

Terms derived from trench (noun)

entrench in the trenches

trench coat trench mouth

trench warfare

Related terms

• tranche

Translations

long, narrow ditch or hole

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: խրամատ (hy) (xramat) 
• Catalan: trinxera (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 壕溝 (cmn), 壕沟 (cmn) (háogoū), 戰壕 (cmn), 战壕 (cmn) (zhànháo)

• Czech: příkop (cs) m
• Finnish: juoksuhauta (fi)
• French: tranchée (fr)
• Georgian: თხრილი (ka) (t'xrili) 
• German: Graben (de) m
• Greek: χαράκωμα (el) (charákoma) n 
• Hebrew: תעלה (he) (ta'ala)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: árok (hu)
• Italian: (general) fosso (it) m, (military) trincea (it) f
• Japanese: 塹壕 (ja) (ざんごう, zangō), トレンチ (ja) (torenchi)
• Jèrriais: tranchie f

• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: fossa (la) f
• Persian: سنگر (fa) (sangar)
• Polish: okop (pl) m,rów (pl) m
• Portuguese: trincheira (pt)
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: траншея (ru) (tranšéja) f , окоп (ru) (okóp) m , ров (ru) (rov) m , канава (ru) (kanáva) f 
• Scottish Gaelic: trainnse (gd) f, clais (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian: opkop (sh) m, rov (sh)
• Spanish: trinchera (es)
• Swahili: mtaro (sw), handaki (sw)
• Telugu: కందకము (te) (kandakamu)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: hendek (tr), siper (tr)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: ffos (cy) f

Verb

trench (third-person singular simple present trenches, present participle trenching, simple past and past participle trenched)

1. (usually followed by upon) To invade, especially with regard to the rights or the exclusive authority of another.
   • 1640, Ben Jonson, Underwoods, page 68:

     Shee is the Judge, Thou Executioner, Or if thou needs would'st trench upon her power, Thou mightst have yet enjoy'd thy crueltie, With some more thrift, and more varietie.

   • 1949, Charles Austin Beard, American Government and Politics, page 16:

     He could make what laws he pleased, as long as those laws did not trench upon property rights.

   • 2005, Carl von Clausewitz, J. J. Graham, On War, page 261:

     [O]ur ideas, therefore, must trench upon the province of tactics.

2. (military, infantry) To excavate an elongated pit for protection of soldiers and or equipment, usually perpendicular to the line of sight toward the enemy.
3. (archaeology) To excavate an elongated and often narrow pit.

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French

Etymology

From English.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tʁɛ̃tʃ/

Noun

trench m (plural trenchs)

1. trench coat

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Italian

Etymology

From English trench (coat).

Noun

trench m (invariable)

1. trench coat