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Pronunciation Guide
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

trench

/tɹɛntʃ/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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What does trench mean?

noun

  1. A long, narrow ditch or hole in the ground; either manmade, or formed naturally through erosion or tectonic plate movement.
  2. A narrow excavation as used in warfare, as a cover for besieging or emplaced forces.
  3. A pit, usually rectangular with smooth walls and floor, excavated during an archaeological investigation.
More meanings (10)

noun

  1. (informal) A trench coat.

verb

  1. To invade, especially with regard to the rights or the exclusive authority of another; to encroach.
  2. To excavate an elongated pit for protection of soldiers and or equipment, usually perpendicular to the line of sight toward the enemy.
  3. To excavate an elongated and often narrow pit.
  4. To have direction; to aim or tend.
  5. To cut; to form or shape by cutting; to make by incision, hewing, etc.
  6. To cut furrows or ditches in.
  7. To dig or cultivate very deeply, usually by digging parallel contiguous trenches in succession, filling each from the next.

proper noun

  1. A suburb of Telford, Telford and Wrekin borough, Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SJ6912).
  2. A habitational surname.
Wiktionary contributors Wiktionary contributors

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/tɹɛntʃ/

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

And woe the day, when England is fighting in her last trench, and her able-bodied men are on the firing line!
Jack LondonThe People of the AbyssProject Gutenberg ebook #1688
Along the crest of the plateau ran a sort of trench whose presence it was impossible for the distant observer to divine.
Victor HugoLes MisérablesTranslated by Isabel Florence HapgoodProject Gutenberg ebook #135
More book examples (3)
When it floated they towed it so as to bring it above the immense trench made on the level of the water-line.
Jules VerneTwenty Thousand Leagues under the SeaProject Gutenberg ebook #164
The front line trench is nothing but a series of traverses, thus to avoid the enfilade effect of shell and machine-gun fire.
Victor LefebureThe Riddle of the Rhine: Chemical Strategy in Peace and WarProject Gutenberg ebook #1272
A double stockade, or palisade, composed of pointed beams, which the adjacent forest supplied, defended the outer and inner bank of the trench.
Walter ScottIvanhoe: A RomanceProject Gutenberg ebook #82