4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Trench  \Trench\,  n.  [OE.  trenche,  F.  tranch['e]e.  See  {Trench}, 
  v.  t.] 
  1.  A  long,  narrow  cut  in  the  earth;  a  ditch;  as  a  trench  for 
  draining  land.  --Mortimer. 
 
  2.  An  alley;  a  narrow  path  or  walk  cut  through  woods, 
  shrubbery,  or  the  like  [Obs.] 
 
  In  a  trench,  forth  in  the  park,  goeth  she 
  --Chaucer. 
 
  3.  (Fort.)  An  excavation  made  during  a  siege,  for  the  purpose 
  of  covering  the  troops  as  they  advance  toward  the  besieged 
  place  The  term  includes  the  parallels  and  the  approaches. 
 
  {To  open  the  trenches}  (Mil.),  to  begin  to  dig  or  to  form  the 
  lines  of  approach. 
 
  {Trench  cavalier}  (Fort.),  an  elevation  constructed  (by  a 
  besieger)  of  gabions,  fascines,  earth,  and  the  like  about 
  half  way  up  the  glacis,  in  order  to  discover  and  enfilade 
  the  covered  way 
 
  {Trench  plow},  or  {Trench  plough},  a  kind  of  plow  for  opening 
  land  to  a  greater  depth  than  that  of  common  furrows. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Trench  \Trench\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Trenched};  p.  pr  &  vb  n. 
  {Trenching}.]  [OF.  trenchier  to  cut,  F.  trancher;  akin  to  Pr 
  trencar  trenchar,  Sp  trinchar  It  trinciare  of  uncertain 
  origin.] 
  1.  To  cut;  to  form  or  shape  by  cutting;  to  make  by  incision, 
  hewing,  or  the  like 
 
  The  wide  wound  that  the  boar  had  trenched  In  his 
  soft  flank.  --Shak. 
 
  This  weak  impress  of  love  is  as  a  figure  Trenched  in 
  ice,  which  with  an  hour's  heat  Dissolves  to  water, 
  and  doth  lose  its  form  --Shak. 
 
  2.  (Fort.)  To  fortify  by  cutting  a  ditch,  and  raising  a 
  rampart  or  breastwork  with  the  earth  thrown  out  of  the 
  ditch;  to  intrench.  --Pope. 
 
  No  more  shall  trenching  war  channel  her  fields. 
  --Shak. 
 
  3.  To  cut  furrows  or  ditches  in  as  to  trench  land  for  the 
  purpose  of  draining  it 
 
  4.  To  dig  or  cultivate  very  deeply,  usually  by  digging 
  parallel  contiguous  trenches  in  succession,  filling  each 
  from  the  next  as  to  trench  a  garden  for  certain  crops. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Trench  \Trench\,  v.  i. 
  1.  To  encroach;  to  intrench. 
 
  Does  it  not  seem  as  if  for  a  creature  to  challenge 
  to  itself  a  boundless  attribute,  were  to  trench  upon 
  the  prerogative  of  the  divine  nature?  --I.  Taylor. 
 
  2.  To  have  direction;  to  aim  or  tend.  [R.]  --Bacon. 
 
  {To  trench  at},  to  make  trenches  against;  to  approach  by 
  trenches,  as  a  town  in  besieging  it  [Obs.] 
 
  Like  powerful  armies,  trenching  at  a  town  By  slow 
  and  silent,  but  resistless,  sap.  --Young. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  trench 
  n  1:  a  ditch  dug  as  a  fortification  having  a  parapet  of  the 
  excavated  earth 
  2:  a  long  steep-sided  depression  in  the  ocean  floor 
  3:  any  long  cut  made  in  the  ground 
  v  1:  trench  on  or  upon  something 
  2:  impinge  or  infringe  upon  "This  impinges  on  my  rights  as  an 
  individual"  [syn:  {impinge},  {encroach}] 
  3:  trespass  or  encroach;  infringe;  "This  in  entrenching  on 
  other  domains"  [syn:  {entrench}] 
  4:  cut  or  carve  deeply  into  "letters  trenched  into  the  stone" 
  5:  cut  a  drainage  tench  in  "ditch  the  land  to  drain  it"  [syn: 
  {ditch}] 
  6:  dig  a  trench  in  "trench  a  hill" 
  7:  dig  a  trench 

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