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   trench

   /trɛn(t)ʃ/

   noun

   • 1. a long, narrow ditch: "dig a trench around the perimeter of the fire"
   • ▪ a long, narrow ditch dug by troops to provide a place of shelter from enemy fire.
   • ▪ a connected system of long, narrow ditches forming an army's line.
   • ▪ the battlefields of northern France and Belgium in the First World War: "the slaughter in the trenches created a new cynicism"
   • 2. a long, narrow, deep depression in the ocean bed, typically one running parallel to a plate boundary and marking a subduction zone: "the Marianas Trench"
   • 3. a trench coat.

   verb

   • 1. dig a trench or trenches in (the ground): "she trenched the terrace to a depth of 6 feet"
   • ▪ turn over the earth of (a field or garden) by digging a succession of adjoining ditches.
   • 2. border closely on; encroach on: archaic "this would surely trench very far on the dignity and liberty of citizens"

   Word Origin late Middle English (in the senses ‘track cut through a wood’ and ‘sever by cutting’): from Old French trenche (noun), trenchier (verb), based on Latin truncare (see truncate).

   Scrabble Points: 11

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