Meaning & use
trench
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Meanings
nouncountable
A long, narrow channel cut into the ground, for example to carry pipes or water.
Grammar: Often used with dug: workers dug a trench.
Patterns
- dig a trench
- a trench for something
The workers dug a trench for the new water pipe.
Rainwater filled the trench along the edge of the field.
He planted the seedlings in a shallow trench.
nounusually pluralmilitary
A long ditch where soldiers can shelter while fighting.
Grammar: Commonly the trenches, referring to the front line in war.
Patterns
- in the trenches
- trench warfare
Soldiers spent months in the trenches during the First World War.
Rain turned the trench into a river of mud.
He wrote letters home from the trench.
nouncountablespecialist
A very deep, narrow valley in the ocean floor.
Grammar: Usually in names: the Mariana Trench.
Patterns
- an ocean trench
- the Mariana Trench
The Mariana Trench is the deepest known part of the ocean.
Scientists sent a robot into the trench to study life there.
A deep sea trench formed where two plates meet.
verbtransitivespecialist
To dig a trench in the ground.
Grammar: Takes an object such as a field or a garden: trench the soil.
Patterns
- trench a field
- trench something for something
Gardeners trench the bed before planting celery.
The crew trenched the field to lay drainage pipes.
He trenched a line along the fence.
Word forms
| plural | trenches |
|---|---|
| third person singular | trenches |
| past tense | trenched |
| -ing form | trenching |
Common combinations
- dig a trench
- The crew will dig a trench along the road.
- trench warfare
- Trench warfare caused terrible losses in the First World War.
- in the trenches
- Teachers in the trenches see the real problems.
- ocean trench
- An ocean trench can be several miles deep.
- trench coat
- He wore a tan trench coat in the rain.
- drainage trench
- A drainage trench kept the yard dry.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ditch
- Ditch is the everyday word and often means a channel at a roadside, while trench is usually a deliberately dug, narrow cut.
- channel
- Channel focuses on carrying water along a route, while trench simply names the cut itself.
- furrow
- Furrow is a shallow groove made by a plow, so it is much smaller than a trench.
- moat
- A moat is a wide ditch filled with water around a castle.
Opposites
Word family
- trencher noun
- a machine or person that digs trenches
- trenching noun
- the work of digging trenches
- entrench verb
- to establish firmly so that change is difficult
- entrenched adjective
- firmly fixed and hard to change
Commonly confused: trench or trough?
trench vs trough
A trough is a long narrow container that holds food or water for animals, while a trench is a channel dug into the ground.
Practice
Which word fits: Soldiers lived for weeks in a muddy ______ during the war.
Choose one answer.
A trench is a ditch dug for protection in war. A tunnel is covered underground, and terraces and towers are not dug shelters.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “trench”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.