Standard Lemma guide

trench

name · noun · verb · 22 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈtɹɛnt͡ʃ/
  • [ˈtɹ̝̊wɛnt͡ʃ]
  • [ˈt̠ɹ̠̊˔wɛnt͡ʃ]
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈtɹɪnt͡ʃ/ Southern US, African-American Vernacular, pin–pen merger
  • [ˈtɹ̝̊wɪ̟nt͡ʃ] Southern US, African-American Vernacular, pin–pen merger
  • [ˈt̠ɹ̠̊˔wɪ̟nt͡ʃ] Southern US, African-American Vernacular, pin–pen merger
  • rhymes with -ɛntʃ
  • CMU ARPABET: T R EH1 N CH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A suburb of Telford, Telford and Wrekin borough, Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SJ6912).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

A habitational surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A long, narrow ditch or hole in the ground; either manmade, or formed naturally through erosion or tectonic plate movement.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The trenches for installing the underground cables were dug with a trencher.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A narrow excavation as used in warfare, as a cover for besieging or emplaced forces.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: government, military, politics, war

Examples

  • The soldiers in the trenches rely on logistical support.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A pit, usually rectangular with smooth walls and floor, excavated during an archaeological investigation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: archaeology, history, human-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A trench coat.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To invade, especially with regard to the rights or the exclusive authority of another; to encroach.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

verb

Meaning 8

To excavate an elongated pit for protection of soldiers and or equipment, usually perpendicular to the line of sight toward the enemy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: infantry

Topics: government, military, politics, war

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

verb

Meaning 9

To excavate an elongated and often narrow pit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: archaeology, history, human-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

verb

Meaning 10

To have direction; to aim or tend.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

verb

Meaning 11

To cut; to form or shape by cutting; to make by incision, hewing, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

verb

Meaning 12

To cut furrows or ditches in.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • to trench land for the purpose of draining it

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

verb

Meaning 13

To dig or cultivate very deeply, usually by digging parallel contiguous trenches in succession, filling each from the next.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • to trench a garden for certain crops

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

14

noun

Meaning 14

a ditch dug as a fortification having a parapet of the excavated earth

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ditch

Narrower terms: approach trench, communication trench, fire trench, moat, fosse, slit trench

15

noun

Meaning 15

any long ditch cut in the ground

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ditch

Narrower terms: furrow

16

noun

Meaning 16

a long steep-sided depression in the ocean floor

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: deep, oceanic abyss

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: natural depression, depression

Narrower terms: Atacama Trench, Bougainville Trench, Japan Trench, Nares Deep

17

verb

Meaning 17

dig a trench or trenches

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The National Guardsmen were sent out to trench

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dig, dig out

18

verb

Meaning 18

cut a trench in, as for drainage

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • ditch the land to drain it
  • trench the fields

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ditch

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: excavate, dig, hollow

19

verb

Meaning 19

set, plant, or bury in a trench

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • trench the fallen soldiers
  • trench the vegetables

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: put, set, place, pose, position, lay

20

verb

Meaning 20

cut or carve deeply into

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • letters trenched into the stone

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cut

21

verb

Meaning 21

fortify by surrounding with trenches

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • He trenched his military camp

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fortify, fort

22

verb

Meaning 22

impinge or infringe upon

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • This impinges on my rights as an individual
  • This matter entrenches on other domains

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: impinge, encroach, entrench

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: trespass, take advantage

History

Etymology

From trench.

Borrowed into Middle English from Old French trenche. Doublet of tranche and traunch. Possible doublet of English: truncate

Across languages

Translations

195 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: hendek — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Arabic: خَنْدَق (ḵandaq) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Arabic: أُخْدُود (ʔuḵdūd) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Armenian: խրամատ (xramat) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Basque: lubaki — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Belarusian: траншэ́я (tranšéja) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Belarusian: роў (row) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Belarusian: кана́ва (kanáva) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Belarusian: ако́п (akóp) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Bulgarian: и́зкоп (ízkop) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Bulgarian: кана́вка (kanávka) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Catalan: trinxera — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Chinese Mandarin: 壕溝 /壕沟 (háogōu) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Chinese Mandarin: 戰壕 /战壕 (zhànháo) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Czech: příkop — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Czech: výkop — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Czech: zákop — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Czech: rýha — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Czech: brázda — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Danish: grøft — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Dutch: geul — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Dutch: sloot — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Dutch: greppel — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Esperanto: fosaĵo — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Estonian: kraav — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Finnish: oja — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • French: tranchée — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • French: fossé — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Galician: trincheira — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Galician: gabia — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Galician: foxo — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Georgian: თხრილი (txrili) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Georgian: ტრანშეა (ṭranšea) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • German: Graben — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Gothic: 𐌲𐍂𐌰𐌱𐌰 (graba) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Greek: χαράκωμα (charákoma) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Ancient Greek: τάφρος (táphros) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Hebrew: תְּעָלָה (te'ala) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Hindi: खाई (khāī) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Hungarian: árok — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Ido: trancheo — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Indonesian: palung — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Ingrian: kanava — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Irish: díog — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Italian: fosso — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Italian: trincea — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Italian: fossato — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Japanese: 塹壕 (zangō) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Japanese: トレンチ (torenchi) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Japanese: 溝 (mizo) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Kazakh: жертаса (jertasa) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Khmer: ប្រឡាយ (prɑɑlaay) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Kikuyu: mũkaro — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Korean: 참호 (chamho) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Korean: 트렌치 (teurenchi) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Lao: ຄູ (khū) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Lao: ຮ່ອງ (hǭng) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Latin: fossa — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Latin: scrobis — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Macedonian: ров (rov) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Malay: parit — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Malay: jurang — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Marathi: खंदक (khandak) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Norman: tranchie — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Norwegian Bokmål: grøft — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Persian: ترانشه (terânše) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Polish: okop — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Polish: rów — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Portuguese: fosso — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Romanian: tranșee — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Romanian: fosă — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Russian: транше́я (tranšéja) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Russian: око́п (okóp) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Russian: ров (rov) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Russian: кана́ва (kanáva) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Scottish Gaelic: trainnse — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Scottish Gaelic: clais — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Serbo-Croatian: о̀пкоп — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Serbo-Croatian: ро̏в — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Serbo-Croatian: ја́рак — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Serbo-Croatian: òpkop — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Serbo-Croatian: rȍv — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Serbo-Croatian: járak — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Slovak: priekopa — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Slovak: výkop — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Slovak: zákop — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Slovene: jarek — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Slovene: rov — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Spanish: trinchera — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Swahili: mtaro — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Swahili: handaki — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Swedish: dike — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Swedish: fåra — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Swedish: ränna — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Tagalog: trintsera — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Tajik: хандақ (xandaq) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Telugu: కందకము (kandakamu) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Thai: คู (kuu) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Thai: ร่อง (rɔ̂ng) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Tibetan: ས་ཤུར (sa shur) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Turkish: hendek — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Ottoman Turkish: خندق (hendek) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Ottoman Turkish: آرق (ark) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Ukrainian: транше́я (tranšéja) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Ukrainian: око́п (okóp) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Ukrainian: окі́п (okíp) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Ukrainian: рів (riv) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Ukrainian: кана́ва (kanáva) — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Vietnamese: hào — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Welsh: ffos — long, narrow ditch or hole
  • Afrikaans: loopgraaf — military excavation
  • Albanian: hendek — military excavation
  • Arabic: خَنْدَق (ḵandaq) — military excavation
  • Armenian: խրամ (xram) — military excavation
  • Armenian: խանդակ (xandak) — military excavation
  • Azerbaijani: xəndək — military excavation
  • Belarusian: ако́п (akóp) — military excavation
  • Belarusian: траншэ́я (tranšéja) — military excavation
  • Belarusian: роў (row) — military excavation
  • Bulgarian: око́п (okóp) — military excavation
  • Bulgarian: транше́я (tranšéja) — military excavation
  • Chinese Mandarin: 壕溝 /壕沟 (háogōu) — military excavation
  • Czech: zákop — military excavation
  • Danish: skyttegrav — military excavation
  • Dutch: loopgraaf — military excavation
  • Esperanto: tranĉeo — military excavation
  • Estonian: kaevik — military excavation
  • Finnish: juoksuhauta — military excavation
  • Finnish: ampumahauta — military excavation
  • French: tranchée — military excavation
  • Galician: trincheira — military excavation
  • Georgian: სანგარი (sangari) — military excavation
  • Georgian: ტრანშეა (ṭranšea) — military excavation
  • German: Schützengraben — military excavation
  • German: Graben — military excavation
  • Greek: όρυγμα (órygma) — military excavation
  • Ancient Greek: ὄρυγμα (órugma) — military excavation
  • Hindi: खाई (khāī) — military excavation
  • Hungarian: lövészárok — military excavation
  • Icelandic: skotgröf — military excavation
  • Italian: trincea — military excavation
  • Italian: fossato — military excavation
  • Italian: buca — military excavation
  • Kashmiri: خَنٛدَق (khandaq) — military excavation
  • Kazakh: жертаса (jertasa) — military excavation
  • Kazakh: траншея (tranşeä) — military excavation
  • Kazakh: ор (or) — military excavation
  • Northern Kurdish: siper — military excavation
  • Kyrgyz: окоп (okop) — military excavation
  • Kyrgyz: траншея (tranşeya) — military excavation
  • Latvian: tranšeja — military excavation
  • Latvian: ierakums — military excavation
  • Lithuanian: apkasas — military excavation
  • Macedonian: ров (rov) — military excavation
  • Macedonian: транше́ја (tranšéja) — military excavation
  • Māori: awarua — military excavation
  • Māori: kōruarua — military excavation
  • Middle English: trenche — military excavation
  • Norwegian Bokmål: skyttergrav — military excavation
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: skyttargrav — military excavation
  • Pashto: سنګر (sangar) — military excavation
  • Persian: سنگر (sangar) — military excavation
  • Persian: ترانشه (trânše) — military excavation
  • Persian: خندق (xandaq) — military excavation
  • Polish: okop — military excavation
  • Polish: rów — military excavation
  • Polish: transzeja — military excavation
  • Portuguese: trincheira — military excavation
  • Romanian: tranșee — military excavation
  • Russian: око́п (okóp) — military excavation
  • Russian: транше́я (tranšéja) — military excavation
  • Russian: ров (rov) — military excavation
  • Serbo-Croatian: транше́ја — military excavation
  • Serbo-Croatian: tranšéja — military excavation
  • Slovak: zákop — military excavation
  • Slovene: jarek — military excavation
  • Spanish: trinchera — military excavation
  • Swedish: skyttegrav — military excavation
  • Tagalog: trintsera — military excavation
  • Tajik: хандақ (xandaq) — military excavation
  • Thai: คู (kuu) — military excavation
  • Turkish: siper — military excavation
  • Ottoman Turkish: خندق (hendek) — military excavation
  • Ukrainian: око́п (okóp) — military excavation
  • Ukrainian: окі́п (okíp) — military excavation
  • Ukrainian: транше́я (tranšéja) — military excavation
  • Ukrainian: рів (riv) — military excavation
  • Urdu: خَنْدَق (xandaq) — military excavation
  • Uyghur: خەندەك (xendek) — military excavation
  • Uyghur: ئاكوپ (akop) — military excavation
  • Uzbek: transheya — military excavation
  • Uzbek: okop — military excavation
  • Uzbek: xandaq — military excavation
  • Vietnamese: chiến hào — military excavation
  • Yiddish: אַקאָפּע (akope) — military excavation
Real reading context

trench in complete knowledge articles

Technology during World War I Technology & inventions · Challenging · 22 uses Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt Places & the world · Challenging · 13 uses Cocos–Nazca spreading centre Ideas & learning · Challenging · 2 uses