trenchn.
/trɛn(t)ʃ/, U.S. /trɛn(t)ʃ/ I. A path or (usually) ditch cut into or through something, and related senses.† 1. A path or track cut through a wood or forest. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > [noun] > cut through a wood or rock
trenchc1405
holleway?a1500
path1548
cut1730
hollow-way1765
score1790
shute1879
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Squire's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 384 In a trench [c1410 Cambr. Dd.4.24 trenche] forth in the park goth she.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 441 As the Reenge the trenchis by and by, They herde a noyse.
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie xxxvii. 98 By this word Trench, is vnderstoode euery small way, not so commonly vsed..So is there also difference betweene a Trench and a path. For trenches as I say, be wayes and walkes in a woode or Forest.
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 31 Not to be entred but by a long narrow dissected path or trench.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. ix. 189/1 Trench, is a by-path, or a more obscure way, or walk in a Wood.
1785 Sportsman's Dict. (ed. 3) There is also a difference between the word ways and trenches; for by the first is meant the high and beaten way on the outside of a forest or wood; and by the word trench, a very small way, not so commonly used.
2. Military.
a. A long, narrow ditch dug by troops to provide a place of shelter from enemy fire and observation, the earth from which is formed into an earthwork in front of the ditch to give further protection. Also: the ditch or (until the early 19th century) the earthwork separately.In early use with reference to offensive and defensive fortifications at sieges, but after the mid-19th century typically referring to defensive earthworks on battlefields, most notably those on the Western Front in the First World War (see sense 2b(b)).to open a trench (also trenches): see open v. 5b.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > [noun]
wallc900
banka1387
aggera1398
trench1445
braye1512
mantle-walla1522
werewalla1525
rampire1548
rampart1550
mound1558
mount1558
argin1589
vallie1602
earthwork1633
circumvallation1645
vallation1664
subtrench1669
epaulement1687
enceinte1708
ring1780
vallum1803
main-work1833
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > [noun] > trench
trench1445
groop1556
1445 in T. Rymer Fœdera (1710) XI. 847/2 Manyonerers, Casters of Dyks and Trenchis & aliorum Operum necessariorum.
1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes i. ix. sig. Biiij To lepen ouer trenchis or dyches.
1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes ii. xxx. sig. Iviiv Item they that shal haue the rewle ouer the coyllardes shal haue with theym .xx. laborers for to pight thees engyns and theire mantelles in to the erthe and for to make trenches and dyches a boute.
c1500 Three Kings' Sons (1895) 42 That ther might be made grete trenches, that ther might be grete nombre of people hid theryn.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xi. xvii. 104 Thai..delvys trynschis all the wallis abowt.
1524 tr. J. de Bourbon Begynnynge & Foundacyon Holy Hospytall sig. B viv Than came a spanyarde renegate fro the hoost that gaue vs warnynge of all that was doone in the felde and of the approchynge by the trenches that our enmyes made.
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. iv. xx. f. 52v/2 To bring treis to fyl the fowseis..otheris maid syndry instrumentis to breke down thair trinschis.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. xliiiiv They without made mynes, cast trenches and shot gunnes dayly at the walles.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cclix To..bring ye pionners to cast down their trenches.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 169 It was resolued that the ditches..should bee deepned, and the trenches highthned.
1624 P. Massinger Bond-man ii. i. sig. D2 There are trenches too..In which to stand all night to the knees in water, In Gallants breeds the tooth-ach.
1678 tr. L. de Gaya Art of War ii. 113 A Trench, a casting up of Earth by way of Parapet, with a Ditch or Foss on the side of the Enemy.
1693 in W. Macfarlane Geogr. Coll. Scotl. (1907) II. 218 Ane ruinous tour surrounded with ane trintch of stone and earth.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture II. 100/1 Severus threw up a trench a hundred and twenty two miles long.
a1758 J. Keith Fragm. of Mem. (1843) 71 We expected immediatly to have open'd the trenches, but very misfortunately we had no cannon.
1829 J. Shipp Mem. Mil. Career III. i. 24 Our occupying-party was in readiness in the trenches.
a1837 ‘Mrs. Markham’ Hist. France (1862) xix. 204 The prince, having hastily thrown up some ditches and trenches to strengthen the natural defenses of his position, quietly awaited the approach of the enemy.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator ii. 103/2 When this excavation is behind the mound it is called a trench.
1915 D. Haig Diary 22 Aug. in War Diaries & Lett. 1914–18 (2005) 138 We discussed the question of how to get the cylinders into the trenches..and how to store them in a trench. We decided to dig places under the front parapet below the firing step so as to prevent them from being damaged by gun fire.
2009 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 30 Apr. 8/2 Varying in width between 30 and 150 meters, this $12 billion combination of trenches, electronic fences, ditches, watchtowers, concrete slabs, checkpoints, patrol roads, and razor coil is priced at around $2 million per kilometer.
b. In plural.
(a) The connected system of ditches and earthworks of this kind forming an army's line (originally at a siege, later in trench warfare). Usually with the or possessive. Cf. to mount the trenches at Phrases.
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1524 tr. J. de Bourbon Begynnynge & Foundacyon Holy Hospytall sig. C.iv After comynge of the grete Turke the enmyes began..to make theyr trenches and approches.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. xvii. 20 [They] did in the meane space diligently aduaunce their trenches and approaches for planting of their ordinance.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) i. vii. 12 I saw our party to their Trenches driuen. View more context for this quotation
1673 R. Honywood tr. B. Nani Hist. Republick of Venice viii. 343 They on the other side of the Gattola.., marched a round pace to assault the Trenches.
1704 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion III. xiii. 293 Cromwell knew them too well to fear them..when there were no Trenches..to keep him from them.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) (at cited word) Trenches are Works..either cut into the Ground..or else raised above it when rocky, with Bavins, Wooll-packs, Bags or Baskets filled with Earth.
1777 R. Watson Hist. Reign Philip II I. vi. 144 By the advice of Dragut he resolved to extend his trenches and batteries, on the side next to the town.
1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner 397 Trenches. A general term for all the approaches at a siege.
1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold II. vii. iii. 176 On the other side of the trenches were marching against them their own countrymen.
1914 Daily Express 13 Nov. 514 The Germans have been ‘doing the dirty’ on us by donning khaki and kilts to approach our trenches.
1916 Rec. Trial H. Farr (P.R.O.: WO 71/509) f. 4 He then said, ‘You are a fucking coward & you will go to the trenches.’
1998 D. Chandler in I. Fletcher Peninsular War iii. 58 General Barrié launched 500 men against Wellington's trenches at 11 am on 14 January.
(b) spec. With the. The entrenched positions taken up by the Allied and German armies on the Western Front during the First World War (1914–18), esp. those occupied by the British army in northern France and Belgium, viewed as emblematic of the war as a whole and soldiers' experience of it. historical.Used typically to evoke or suggest the terrible conditions in which the war was fought, and hence the suffering of the soldiers fighting in it; cf. Flanders mud n. at Flanders n. 5c.
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1915 I. Gurney Let. 8 Apr. (1991) 17 Never a word do they say about wanting to fight, or being in the trenches.
1925 G. K. Chesterton Everlasting Man i. v. 128 It is utterly unreal to argue that..a boy playing at robbers is the same as a man in his first day in the trenches.
1939 D. Thomas Let. 2 Nov. (1987) 426 The matey folk-warmth of the trenches can only make for hysterical friendships, do or die companionships.
1964 R. W. Lid Ford Madox Ford viii. 174 Qualities that make universal in another way the experiences of life in the trenches.
1996 C. Davies Plays E. Toller ii. 145 The trenches saw an extraordinary flowering of puppets. Soldiers bored by the long and tedious hours in the trenches carved figures from any available materials.
2007 N. Corcoran Cambr. Compan. 20th-cent. Eng. Poetry vi. 98 So—almost unimaginable thing if Rosenberg had not managed it—drollery and wit are brought to the poetry of the trenches.
c. figurative or in figurative contexts.
(a) With reference to a place where something or someone is protected or defended, or (formerly) a situation in which one may gain the prize one seeks.
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1601 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Trauellers Breuiat 15 The sea, which to the inhabitants is as a deepe trench against hostile inuasions.
1677 R. Gilpin Dæmonol. Sacra ii. ix. 392 A Soul, that is within the Trenches of present Peace.
1723 B. Mandeville Fable Bees (ed. 2) i. 66 Seducers..don't make their Attacks at Noonday, but cut their Trenches at Night.
1815 H. H. Milman Fazio i. iv. 15 Have ye leap'd The broad and sharp-staked trenches of the law?
1920 C. Hamilton Blue Room iii. vi.131 But invalidism raised a protective trench round her mother and she held her peace.
1997 P. Martin Shortstop's Son p. xvi Good criticism is antidemocratic and judgmental. It believes in right and wrong, in worth and worthlessness. It is a trench against the invading shabbiness of thought.
(b) In plural. With the. With allusion to the life of soldiers in the trenches in the First World War (1914–18), esp. denoting experience of or exposure to a stressful and taxing situation, activity, etc. Chiefly in in the trenches. Cf. sense 2b(b).
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the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being harassed > in stressful situation [phrase]
in the trenches1935
1935 Thomson (Illinois) Rev. 8 Aug. 2/11 This hospital..sparkles of heroic work in the frontline trenches of releasement of physical pain.
1977 Rolling Stone 24 Mar. 13/2 He has been in the trenches too long not to be a master at mixing sincerity with evasiveness.
1988 D. O'Brien Rites of Autumn iii. 124 Though I had contributed in my own way, these were the people what had fought in the trenches to outlaw the killing of birds of prey.
2013 Palm Beach (Florida) Post (Nexis) 4 Dec. 10 a As a practicing physician 28 years ‘in the trenches’, I can report to you that the ACA is a step in the right direction.
3. gen. A long, narrow ditch or furrow cut out of the ground. Also figurative.
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the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > ditching or drainage > [noun] > ditch
dikec893
gripa1000
ditch1045
fosselOE
water-furrowlOE
sow1316
furrowc1330
rick1332
sewer1402
gripplec1440
soughc1440
grindle1463
sheugh1513
syre1513
rain?1523
trench1523
slough1532
drain1552
fowsie?1553
thorougha1555
rean1591
potting1592
trink1592
syver1606
graft1644
work1649
by-ditch1650
water fence1651
master drain1652
rode1662
pudge1671
gripe1673
sulcus1676
rhine1698
rilling1725
mine1743
foot trench1765
through1777
trench drain1779
trenchlet1782
sunk fence1786
float1790
foot drain1795
tail-drain1805
flow-dike1812
groopa1825
holla1825
thorough drain1824
yawner1832
acequia madre1835
drove1844
leader1844
furrow-drain1858
1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng xxxv. f. xlix And in the lowest place of euery close or pasture, make a trenche or a lytell dyche in to the great dyche that gothe about.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxxix To take a lyne and set it there as thou wylte haue thy hedge, and to make a trenche after thy lyne.
1566 W. Adlington tr. Apuleius .XI. Bks. Golden Asse ix. xxxix. f. 90v On ye one side were Quagmyres & foggy marshes, on the other side were falling trenches and ditches.
1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia i. ix. 20 This practise is most approuable and peculiar in mildring Clay, which otherwise by shooting and melting downe into open Trenches, would choake vp the water-passages.
1677 A. Yarranton England's Improvem. 192 The River Dee must be carried in a large Cut or Trench through the lands..as far as Flint Castle, and then dropt by a large Cut, into the Deep Water below the Brewhouse.
1715 J. Addison Spectator No. 584. ¶6 The digging of Trenches, and the hollowing of Trees, for the better Distribution of Water.
1779 G. Boswell Treat. on watering Meadows 25 A Trench is a narrow shallow ditch, made to take the water out of the mains to float the land with.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia IV. vii. vi. 76 How deep a trench of real misery do you sink, in order to raise this pile of fancied happiness!
1842 Ld. Tennyson Audley Court in Poems (new ed.) II. 44 Be shot for sixpence in a battle-field, And shovell'd up into a bloody trench.
1898 M. Deland Old Chester Tales 205 Katy..stepped into the shallow trench and lay down. ‘Ouch—ain't it cold!’ she said.
1911 U.S. Patent 982,023 2/1 This invention relates to a new and improved pipe laying mechanism in the nature of a jack, adapted to force a pipe through the soil without digging a trench.
1957 J. H. Arnison Pract. Road Constr. iii. 52 The shafts for the manholes may be cut out by manual labour, and the main trench by mechanical plant.
2008 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 19 June a18/5 Workers dug a shallow trench along the levee, hammered in stakes, put up a short wooden wall.
4. Something resembling a trench.
a. Anatomy and Zoology. A cavity, pit, or groove; a fossa. Now rare.trench of the heart: the pit of the stomach.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > indentation or cavity > [noun] > depression or cavity
pita1275
holec1300
cella1398
den1398
follicle?a1425
purse?a1425
pocketa1450
fossac1475
cystis1543
trench1565
conceptory1576
vesike1577
vesicle1578
vault1594
socket1601
bladderet1615
cistern1615
cavern1626
ventricle1641
bladder1661
antrum1684
conceptaculum1691
capsule1693
cellule1694
loculus1694
sinus1704
vesicula1705
vesica1706
fosse1710
pouch1712
cyst1721
air chamber1725
fossula1733
alveole1739
sac1741
sacculus1749
locule1751
compartment1772
air cell1774
fossule1803
umbilicus1811
conceptacle1819
cœlia1820
utricle1822
air sac1835
saccule1836
ampulla1845
vacuole1853
scrobicule1880
faveolus1882
1565 J. Hall Anat. 3rd Treat. i. i. 37 in tr. Lanfranc Most Excellent Woorke Chirurg. Whyche humores, when so euer they superabounde, doe fall downe by common passages, into the trenche ouer the rouffe or palate of the mouthe, ordeyned to receiue ye same.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 392 That cauity which is commonly called..the Trench or Spoone of the heart.
1631 D. Widdowes tr. W. A. Scribonius Nat. Philos. (new ed.) 62 From the trench of the veynes hang downeward white, narrow veynes guiding water from the reines vnto the bladder.
1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré Chirurg. Wks. iii. i. 86 The trench of the heart which the Ancients called καρδία. The Latines scrobiculus Cordis.
1721 J. Weaver Anat. & Mech. Lect. Dancing 32 Upon the fore-part of the Head [of the humerus] there is a Channel, or Trench, through which passes a Tendon of the Musculus Biceps.
1846 J. D. Dana U.S. Exploring Exped.: Zoophytes 257 Corallum cellular and rather light; bottom of trench convoluto-porous.
1889 Jrnl. Anat. & Physiol. 23 202 Each [circumvallate papilla] is encircled by a deep and narrow trench of uniform width.
1902 J. B. MacCallum tr. L. Szymonowicz Text-bk. Histol. & Microsc. Anat. ii. 166 The papillæ vallatæ or circumvallatæ..are so named on account of being surrounded by a sort of trench.
2012 R. L. Drake et al. Gray's Basic Anat. vi. 288/2 The surfaces of the medial and lateral condyles that articulate with the patella from a V-shaped trench, which faces anteriorly.
b. A cut, scar, or deep wrinkle in the face.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > other blemishes
trench1594
French crown1600
scorch-patch1897
tree-marking1900
corona-
the world > life > the body > skin > textures or states of skin > [noun] > wrinkle
rimpleeOE
rivellingOE
rivelc1325
crow's footc1374
frounce1390
wrinklea1400
frumplec1440
freckle1519
line1538
lirkc1540
shrivel1547
plait1574
furrow1589
trench1594
crowfoot1614
seam1765
thought-line1858
laughter line1867
laugh line1913
smile-line1921
worry lines1972
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus v. ii. 23 Witnes these trenches made by greefe and care. View more context for this quotation
?1605 J. Davies Wittes Pilgrimage sig. L1 Crow-foot neer the Eyes, Browes, Furrow'd quite, With Trenches in the Cheeks, Experience show.
1710 tr. C. Quillet Callipædia iii. 37 For now her fading Beauties droop and fall: Deep Trenches on her hollow Cheeks appear: She sheds her swarthy Teeth and snowy Hair.
1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward I. vii. 173 ‘Thou name ladies' love, with such a trench in thy visage!’ said Guthrie.
1830 W. Godwin Cloudesley II. xii. 185 Without trench or wrinkle, in his honest countenance.
1994 N. J. Dodic Madness of Hist. 80 The entire front page of the newspaper is an extreme close-up of a weeping, wrinkled babushka, with tears thick as mercury flowing down into the trenches of her cheeks.
5. A long, relatively narrow cleft in the ocean floor; spec. any of the very long and deep clefts running parallel to the edges of continents and island arcs; also called oceanic trench.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > region of sea or ocean > [noun] > sea bed > trench or cavity in
alveus1670
basin1881
trench1903
foredeep1909
oceanic trench1945
ocean trench1956
1903 Geogr. Jrnl. 22 193 The Trench (Ger. Graben; Fr. Ravin) is also an elongated but proportionally narrow depression, with steeply sloping borders, one of which (the continental) rises higher than the other (the oceanic).
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses iii. xvii. [Ithaca] 624 What in water..did Bloom admire?.. Its unplumbed profundity in the Sundam trench of the Pacific exceeding 8.000 fathoms.
1975 Offshore Engineer Sept. 60/1 The Norwegian trench is a pitfall that has always tempered Norway's oil future.
2004 U.S. News & World Rep. 16 Aug. 51/1 Obscure underwater ecosystems like seamounts, deep sea trenches, and the polar oceans.
6. Short for trench coat n.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > coat > types of > weatherproof > waterproof > other
Burberry1903
trench coat1914
trench1917
plastic maca1944
1917 Washington Post 27 Oct. 8/1 (advt.) Double-breasted Trench, Single-breasted Trench, Double-breasted Form-fitting.
1969 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 29 Jan. 7/3 (advt.) Double breasted trenches completely washable.
1974 Country Life 14 Feb. 334/2 A slim-cut, midi-length trench.
2007 Best Life Apr. 52 (advt.) Finest Burberry double-breasted trench, $2,150.
7. Woodworking. A channel or slot cut across the grain in the face of a piece of wood, into which the edge of another piece is fixed in order to form a joint.In North America usually called a dado.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > [noun] > wooden structures or wooden parts of > means of fitting together > types of joint > groove or cavity
rabbeta1382
rabbetinga1382
mortise1440
pulley mortise1733
chase1823
housing1823
stub mortise1846
dado1875
trench1923
1923 R. Greenhalgh Pract. Joinery & Carpentry xviii. 225 The sides of the remainder of the trench can now be sawn.
1959 C. W. Hampton & E. Clifford Planecraft (rev. ed.) 248 Trench, a housing; a dado.
1979 D. Kessler in C. Ford Making Mus. Instruments i. 23 The wood between the two cuts can now be chipped out to form the trench for the purfling.
1990 Pract. Householder Apr. 55/1 A trench is a cut across the grain of the wood. The trench is not cut across the full width of the wood, so the joint is hidden from the front.
II. Other miscellaneous senses.† 8. A kind of intestinal worm, esp. in horses; cf. truncheon n. 5. Also: a colicky pain or cramp in the abdomen. Obsolete.† 10. A slice. Cf. tranche n.1 Obsolete. rare.† 11. A flat piece of wood, square or circular, on which meat was served and cut up; a plate or platter of wood, metal, or earthenware. Cf. trencher n.1 2. Obsolete. rare.Perhaps only a confusion of the plural forms trenches and trenchers.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [noun] > other disorders of horses
trench?a1450
colt-evilc1460
affreyd?1523
cholera1566
crick1566
incording1566
leprosy1566
taint1566
eyesore1576
fistula1576
wrench1578
birth1600
garrot1600
stithy1600
stifling1601
stranglings1601
hungry evil1607
pose1607
crest-fall1609
pompardy1627
felteric1639
quick-scab1639
shingles1639
clap1684
sudden taking1688
bunches1706
flanks1706
strangles1706
chest-founderingc1720
body-founder1737
influenza1792
foundering1802
horse-sickness1822
stag-evil1823
strangullion1830
shivering1847
dourine1864
swamp fever1870
African horse sickness1874
horse-pox1884
African horse disease1888
wind-stroke1890
thump1891
leucoencephalitis1909
western equine encephalitis1933
stachybotryotoxicosis1945
rhinopneumonitis1957
?a1450 tr. Macer Herbal (Stockh.) (1949) 67 Seth garlek in mulsa and..drinke hit; þis wole destroye þe wormes..and þe trenches.
a1500 in J. Evans & M. S. Serjeantson Eng. Mediaeval Lapidaries (1933) 70 Horse..schall neuer haue þe wormes ne trenche.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. lxxiv. 246 It cureth the trenches [Fr. trenchées] or gryping payne in the small of the bellie or bowels.
1587 L. Mascall First Bk. Cattell 133 Also there are 2. other sorts, the one is called lung woortes, and the other is called trenches.
9. † b. In a double-stringed crossbow, the part by which the two strings are united and into which the neb or tip of the bolt is set in shooting; the material of which this was made. Cf. trenchefil n. 1. Obsolete.
a. In a horse's bridle: a kind of snaffle bit, esp. as part of a double bridle. Also (more fully flying trench): a snaffle bit whose cheek pieces are not rigid. Cf. trenchefil n. 2. Now historical.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > halter or bridle > parts of
headstallc1330
trench1480
stalk1497
musrol1551
head-strain?1561
water-chain?1561
throat band1585
cavesson1598
mullen1598
nose bit?a1600
front-stall1601
ampyx1607
chain1607
fillet1607
cheek-band1611
cheekpiece1611
noseband1611
throat thong1611
headpiece1678
throatlatch1693
headband1704
trenchefil1730
bridoon1744
banquet1753
head1756
cheek1795
throat strap1803
frontlet1805
throat-lash1805
cheekstrap1834
brow-band1844
nosepiece1865
shank1879
1480 Higden's Discripcion Brit. (Caxton) xxvii In stede of bittes with trenches & of badles of reest, they vse bridles that lette not their horse to ete their mete.
1593 G. Markham Disc. Horsmanshippe ii. sig. E4v Take a plaine smooth cannon Byt, with a flying trenche, whose cheekes may bee of the same length.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 320 The Indians wer wont to vse no bridles..but only..putting a long round trench through his [sc. the horse's] mouth, to the edge whereof they fasten the raines, wherewithall they guide the beast.
1639 T. de Gray Compl. Horseman ii. xx. 345 Tye it to his Snaffle, Trench, or Bit.
1668 Markham's Way to get Wealth (new ed.) i. ii. 16 Now and then drawing the trench to and fro in his Mouth.
1729 R. Bradley Gentleman & Farmer's Guide iv. 308 One may conceive the Advantage of this flying Trench. But this Trench, though it is a fine Corrector, yet by no means must be used constantly.
1763 New & Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. I. 382/2 Bridle, in the manege, a contrivance made of..the trench; the cavesan; the martingal; and the chaff-halter.
1852 J. L. Blake Family-text Bk. for Country (1857) 55 The reins; the nose band, buckled under the cheeks; the trench, the cavesson, the martingal, and the chaff halter.
1981 E. H. Edwards Country Life Bk. Saddlery & Equipm. i. 33/3 Later, the ‘false rein’ would be fitted into the ‘flying trench’, or to the top ring of the curb.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > archer's weapons > [noun] > bow > crossbow > part where bolt positioned
trenchefil1369
gutter1555
chase1611
trench1611
killesse1867
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Trenchefile,..the trench, or trenching of a Crossebow string; that part thereof whereinto the neb of the arrow entreth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > condition of being broad in relation to thickness > [noun] > thin piece cut off
slicea1475
trench1558
slivinga1825
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a separate part > a piece or bit > a piece cut off > a slice
cantlec1400
leachc1440
slicea1475
tailye?a1500
tranchec1500
trench1558
slive1577
collop1579
gigot?1611
slivinga1825
1558 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli Secretes Alexis of Piemount iv. f. 70 Take..sixe Lemons cut in trenches.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > setting table > table utensils > [noun] > table-vessels > dish or plate
disha700
scuttlec1050
trencherc1308
plattera1325
paten?1340
esquele1371
skelec1400
plat1415
plate?c1450
skewel1567
trencher-plate1580
goggan1586
trench1602
table plate1669
mazarine1673
discus1680
wearing plate1683
silver plate1710
nappy1731
roundel1797
muffin1820
entrée dish1846
pinax1858
1602 in Collectanea Archæologica (1863) II. 105 Pottes and cruses xxx..Trenches viij dossen.
Phrases
to mount the trenches [after French monter la tranchée (1675 in the passage translated in quot. 1676)] : to take a turn on sentry duty in the trenches at a siege. Also to relieve the trenches [after French relever la tranchée (1603 or earlier)] : to relieve those who have been on sentry duty. Cf. sense 2. Now historical.
ΚΠ
1676 tr. G. Guillet de Saint-Georges Acct. Voy. Athens iv. 382 The Troops that are daily designed for the Guard of the Trenches, are relieved every twelve hours: And when an Oda is appointed for the whole day, the Chorbaggi takes one half of them to mount the Trenches [Fr. pour monter la Tranchée], and twelve hours after is relieved by the Oda Baschi with the other moity.
1684 tr. J. Donneau de Visé Diary Siege of Luxembourg 9 The Besieged (at the time we went to releive the Trenches) set Fire to the Houses of a part of the Fauxbourg of Paffendal.
1693 tr. Present State Europe Oct. 370 Tis resolv'd that these 26 battalions shall relieve and mount the Trenches in their turns.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) (at cited word) To Mount the Trenches, is to go upon Duty in them. To Relieve the Trenches, is to relieve those that have been upon Duty there.
1762 Gen. Hist. Sieges V. 138 To mount the trenches, is to go into them upon duty; and when fresh men supply the place of others, it is called relieving the trenches.
1801 Field of Mars (new ed.) II. at Lisbon On the last of August the Prince of Holstein Beck relieved the trenches; and each battalion was ordered to furnish six waggons to carry stones near the batteries, to throw the same with mortars into the enemy's works.
1862 F. Sayer Hist. Gibraltar x. 210 The garrison shall continue in the town without any correspondence with the Spanish troops, who till further orders shall continue to mount the trenches without committing any hostilities.
1915 A. G. Heath Lett. (1917) 24 June 80 Relieving the trenches—at night, of course—is rather an anxious and awkward business till one is used to it.
1953 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Antiquaries Ireland 83 68 The system was for three or four regiments (according to strength) to mount the trenches at one time. These were relieved every twenty-four hours—subject, of course, to the exigencies of the fighting.
Compounds
C1. Chiefly in sense 2, esp. during the First World War (1914–18) or, subsequently, with historical reference to it.
a. General attributive.
trench fighting n.
ΚΠ
1855 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 18 July Regiments which, with one or two exceptions, have borne the whole brunt of our trench fighting, and suffered accordingly.
1881 W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 468 A few bits of trench-fighting.
1919 W. A. Cull At all Costs 36 On the Somme we were twice over the bags in something more imposing than trench fighting.
2011 P. Hart Gallipoli x. 223 It had become apparent that, as on the Western Front in December 1914, hand grenades were essential for the rough and tumble of close-quarter trench fighting.
trench kit n.
ΚΠ
1914 Irish Times 8 Dec. 5/4 At one point several men, wearing what is known as ‘trench kit’, were paraded for His Majesty's inspection.
1917 Times 24 Sept. 5/4 Much irritation has been expressed by soldiers..compelled to bring with them their full trench kit.
1989 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Dec. 1334/1 A soldier in trench-kit who silently observes the decay of civilization.
trench life n.
ΚΠ
1855 Times 13 Jan. 7/6 Exposure to the privations of camp and trench life, to pestilence, to war in its fiercest and foulest operation—all this is in his bond.
1917 W. Owen Let. 15 Aug. (1967) 484 Nothing like his [sc. Sassoon's] trench life sketches has ever been written.
1977 A. Wilson Strange Ride R. Kipling vii. 298 What he [sc. Kipling] saw of trench life..horrified him.
2013 A. Fletcher Life, Death & growing up on Western Front vii. 143 Trench life was a fight against the elements.
trench-line n.
ΚΠ
1867 C. P. Smyth Life & Work at Great Pyramid 188 (table) North and South trench line.
1908 Blackwood's Mag. Apr. 502/1 A treble tier of trench lines.
2007 I. McDonald Brasyl 380 Zemba himself waited with his reserves and the cross of Our Lady of All Worlds in the trench-line beneath the battery.
trench rifle n.
ΚΠ
1917 A. G. Empey Over Top ii. 16 We were put into troop trains and sent to Southampton, where we detrained, and had our trench rifles issued to us.
1974 A. Price Other Paths to Glory ii. viii. 213 The trench rifle had been Jarras's newest toy.
2000 Contra Costa (Calif.) Times (Nexis) 21 May a11 I own a shotgun that works and a World War I trench rifle that's inoperative... I don't even know if it would work if I cleaned it.
trench system n.
ΚΠ
1825 P. Murphy Inq. into Nature & Cause of Miasmata 142 The advantages of the trench system are so well understood in this district, that the occupying farmer is usually obliged, by his contract, to dig up, or trench, one-third of his farm each year.
1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms 629 Trench system, all the field-works included in a defense zone.
1923 R. Kipling Irish Guards in Great War I. 227 Some half-wiped-out German trench-systems.
2011 W. Davis Into Silence (2012) x. 373 His first recollection was of getting lost in the trench system and approaching a signaler standing alone in a side bay.
trench work n.
ΚΠ
1643 J. Dorney Briefe Relation Seige Glocester 7 The enemy followed hard their trench-work, and carrying of Fagots.
1884 Instr. Mil. Engin. (ed. 3) I. ii. 29 Fig. 1..represents this arrangement in a parallel executed by common trench-work, and Fig. 2 in one constructed by flying trench-work.
1996 V. J. Davies & K. Tomasin Constr. Safety Handbk. (ed. 2) iv. 58 (heading) Other hazards of trench work.
b. Objective, with verbal and agent nouns.
trench-cutting n.
ΚΠ
1843 Artizan Oct. 236/2 Where a large quantity of trench-cutting had to be executed, it would probably be found economical to construct a ladder with strong iron cutters and buckets.
1876 ‘Ouida’ In Winter City vi Palestrina often saw its lord..plan trench-cuttings to arrest the winter-swollen brooks.
1945 Times 19 Oct. 10/1 The prototype models of the Calfdozer, Trench-Cutting machine and Dumptruck had created widespread interest in the building industry.
2009 Labour Hist. 97 27 Gradual mechanisation of trench cutting after 1911 resulted in deskilling and an easing of the labour market.
trench-digger n.
ΚΠ
1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Plutarch Lives VI. 89 Making excursions to harass the trench-diggers.
1855 Times 2 Apr. 5/4 How many of those would volunteer as trench diggers, scavengers, and other similar labourers at the seat of war?
1918 Kia Ora Coo-ee Mar. 4/3 He stood there..listening to Abdul's trench-diggers half-a-mile away.
2013 Nelson (N.Z.) Mail (Nexis) 21 Apr. 15 He was an occasional cook, butcher, driver, road-maker, trench-digger, prisoner guard, blacksmith, machine-gun operator, grave-digger, and horse-and-cart ambulance driver.
trench raiding n.
ΚΠ
1915 Times 17 Dec. 10/1 (heading) Trench raiding at Armentières.
1974 A. Price Other Paths to Glory ii. viii. 213 It's a sawn-off Lee Enfield... Used for trench raiding.
2000 P. Sweeney Gunsmithing: Shotguns xii. 173/1 It didn't take long to figure out that a bolt-action rifle was not the best tool for trench raiding and night patrols.
trench strafing n.
ΚΠ
1918 Washington Post 1 Nov. 5 (caption) ‘Trench strafing’, as the men themselves call it, has played an especially prominent part in preparing the way for the attacks of the American infantry.
1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Oct. 822/1 The squadron was required to assist the hard-pressed infantry by..‘trench strafing’.
2003 A. G. Williams & E. Gustin Flying Guns: World War I & Aftermath ii. 80/2 The RFC distinguished between trench strafing (equivalent to the modern Close Air Support) and ground strafing (now known as Battlefield Air Interdiction).
c. Instrumental.
trench-encircled adj.
ΚΠ
1827 Calvinistic Mag. Feb. 43 At York-town, just before the final blow was struck, when the trench-encircled Britons had devised a plan of escape—what Providence forbade it?
1931 L. Binyon Coll. Poems 204 Beyond the trench and trench-encircled huts.
2008 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 16 Aug. 29 Each side had its tin-pot leader whose power was measured by the number of trench-encircled villages and hamlets he controlled.
trench-ridden adj.
ΚΠ
1915 Tulsa (Oklahoma) Daily World 20 June 3/3 (heading) Solemn simplicity of meeting impressed trench-ridden soldiers.
1917 Scotsman 5 Dec. 6/1 It is not a front framed in ribbons of white like the chalkfields of the Somme, or like the trench-ridden plain by Ypres.
1991 Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois) 25 Jan. 4/2 (caption) U.S. Marines are training for an amphibious attack on the trench-ridden borders of Kuwait.
2000 R. H. Ziegler America's Great War iv. 86 He would soon seize the initiative and restore movement to the trench-ridden European battlefields.
trench-scarred adj.
ΚΠ
1877 Times 14 Sept. 9/6 Many a trench-scarred slope.
1916 N.Y. Times 2 Apr. 1/2 Hill 304, the trench-scarred flank of which vomits a deluge of lead across at the woods..where the Germans lie hidden.
2007 A. Axelrod Miracle of Belleau Wood 15 The mud and misery of trench-scarred France.
C2. † trench-elm n. Obsolete rare a kind of elm (genus Ulmus) (not identified).† trench-sergeant n. Military Obsolete a sergeant whose duties included attending to the state of the trenches (sense 2); cf. trench-master n.
trench boot n. a boot designed to be suitable for the wet, muddy conditions typical of trench warfare; usually in plural.Chiefly during, or with reference to, the First World War (1914–18).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and feet > [noun] > legging and boot combined
cockerc1390
gambado1625
gambages1663
stocking1676
trench boot1914
1914 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 5 Dec. 992/1 If the men had ‘trench boots’—very large boots made of canvas stuffed with straw to pull on over their boots—much preventable suffering and loss of men in the firing line would have been avoided.
1915 Times 15 Feb. 5/6 (advt.) Rubber trench boots... Absolutely waterproof.
1933 J. Buchan Prince of Captivity ii. i. 132 He wore a tattered trench waterproof and..ancient trench-boots.
1973 Country Gentlemen's Mag. Mar. 184/2 Officer's brown leather calf length trench boots..practically new.
2003 C. Sterba Good Americans iv. 95 The men learned that its vapor could be absorbed through the skin as well by inhalation, and penetrated ordinary clothing, even their heavy trench boots.
trench brace n. an adjustable brace or jack positioned between the walls of a trench to support the shoring used on those walls.
ΚΠ
1874 Sci. Amer. 28 Feb. 131 (headline) Improved trench braces.
1893 24th Ann. Rep. Salem Water Board to City Council 27 12 iron trench braces.
1955 Financial Times 22 Aug. 7/5 Lifting tackle, barrows, shovels, forks, trench braces and pumps.
2005 Water Distribution Operator Training Handbk. (Amer. Water Works Assoc.) (ed. 3) vii. 86 Trench braces or trench jacks are finally placed to keep the stringers separated and tight against the trench walls.
trench cart n. Military (now historical) a narrow handcart used to convey ammunition through the trenches.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > military vehicles > [noun] > vehicles for transport of supplies collectively > ammunition cart or wagon > for use in trenches
trench cart1832
1832 C. W. Pasley Rules for conducting Pract. Operations of Siege II. 219 That portion of it which consists of shot, and empty shells, may be conveyed in trench carts drawn by single horses.
1916 Times 6 Mar. 1/7 Collection at Sale of Work and Donations, per Miss Layard and Miss M. Outram (for Trench Cart).
1917 E. Thomas Let. 27 Mar. in E. Farjeon E. Thomas: Last Four Years (1958) 257 Today I solemnly took 10 men and an N.C.O. and a trench cart to steal a small truck for carrying shells on rails.
1988 D. McConnell Brit. Smooth-bore Artillery 233 The travelling carriages of the 8- and 10-inch mortars were pulled by a ‘shell cart limber’ which was a modified trench cart.
trench cavalier n. Fortification (now historical) an earthwork constructed on the glacis by the besieging forces in order to have sight of, and a direct line of fire into, the covered way of the fortress; (also more generally) a high earthwork overlooking enemy fortifications.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > action or state of siege or blockade > [noun] > mine(s) > part of
countermure1553
terrace1579
chamber1638
well1702
trench cavalier1798
shaft1834
1798 tr. Officer's Man. in Field 60 If the Trench Cavaliers are well constructed, it will be easy to carry the Trench directly forwards to the salient Angle of the Covered Way.
1853 J. H. Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. 254/2 At the angle of the glacis, high breastworks, called trench cavaliers, are formed, to allow a plunging fire..to be directed into the covered-way.
1938 Jrnl. Amer. Mil. Hist. Found. 2 14 To further strengthen this salient, a second line, or trench cavalier, had been thrown up from 150 to 200 yards in its rear, commanding both the Confederate advance intrenchments and the enemy's works at a distance.
2007 Jrnl. Mil. Hist. 71 1233 Trench cavaliers (which overlooked enemy works) were merely tools which allowed a skilled engineer to deliver a quick result and the campaign to move on.
trench-dig v. Agriculture and Horticulture (now rare) transitive to cultivate (land) by digging parallel trenches; cf. trench v. 3b, bastard trench v.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > break up land [verb (transitive)] > dig > double-dig
trench-dig1770
bastard trench1838
double-dig1842
1770 A. Young Six Months Tour N. Eng. IV. xxviii. 162 The preparation he recommends is prodigiously expensive, more so, I apprehend, than trench digging land two feet deep.
1807 ‘A. McDonald’ Compl. Dict. Pract. Gardening at Ridging of Ground It is accomplished by trench-digging the ground over, laying the earth of each trench in a raised, rough ridge, lengthways.
1846 Mr. Burrows in J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 153 I have often had fine crops [of carrots] upon poor soils by trench-digging the land to the depth of twenty inches.
2013 H. Yemm Gardening in Pyjamas v. 92 Not everyone has the time, the strength or the inclination to trench-dig their gardens.
trench-digging n. the action or practice of digging trenches; (Agriculture and Horticulture) cultivation of land by trenching or bastard-trenching (cf. double-digging at double adj.1 and adv. Compounds 2e).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > [noun] > digging > double digging
trench-digging1779
bastard trenching1839
double-digging1842
1779 Farmer's Mag. Jan. 23 To prepare the land for the reception of potatoes..the best..method would..be trench-digging.
1822 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Gardening i. iii. iv. 525 Trench-digging may be performed from one to three spades deep.
1868 Putnam's Mag. May 607/2 Such as agriculture, iron-founding, rail-laying, and trench-digging.
1903 Bulletin (Sydney) 1 Oct. 16/2 Coffee-planter in Big Scrub, overseering trench digging.
1983 J. A. Freeman Survival Gardening (ed. 2) v. 27/2 The process is repeated—alternating trench-digging and subsoil loosening—until the whole plot has been worked over.
1991 Constr. Weekly Products Suppl. Sept. 18/3 The short section pipes enable Rauline to be used in manhole to manhole installations, minimising disruption caused by trench digging.
trench drain n. †(a) a ditch that runs parallel to and drains the run-off from an irrigation channel (obsolete); (b) a narrow drainage ditch filled with rubble or gravel, sometimes with a drainpipe at the bottom (cf. French drain n. at French adj. and n. Compounds 1b); (also) a drainpipe with a perforated grid at the top.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > ditching or drainage > [noun] > ditch
dikec893
gripa1000
ditch1045
fosselOE
water-furrowlOE
sow1316
furrowc1330
rick1332
sewer1402
gripplec1440
soughc1440
grindle1463
sheugh1513
syre1513
rain?1523
trench1523
slough1532
drain1552
fowsie?1553
thorougha1555
rean1591
potting1592
trink1592
syver1606
graft1644
work1649
by-ditch1650
water fence1651
master drain1652
rode1662
pudge1671
gripe1673
sulcus1676
rhine1698
rilling1725
mine1743
foot trench1765
through1777
trench drain1779
trenchlet1782
sunk fence1786
float1790
foot drain1795
tail-drain1805
flow-dike1812
groopa1825
holla1825
thorough drain1824
yawner1832
acequia madre1835
drove1844
leader1844
furrow-drain1858
1779 G. Boswell Treat. on watering Meadows 32 That is best done by making the trench drains as deep as possible.
1836 Tennessee Farmer 1 326/1 In all the slangs a trench drain should be constructed to conduct off the surplus water.
1854 Trans. Wisconsin State Agric. Soc. 1853 3 175 He will open up a ground trench drain leading through his land, and he will make tributary drains in connection, and he will have an eye to the destruction of the waste or drained-off waters.
1879 Return to Address: Papers Relating to Claims Murray & Co. (Dept. Secretary of State, Canada) 55 What you would call a trench-drain formed of stones on top?
1951 Wisconsin State Jrnl. 4 Dec. 9/1 The mortar between the blocks is supposed to be waterproofed and they are also putting in a trench drain.
2007 L. Janesky Dry Basement Sci. (ed. 3) iv. 30/2 A trench drain is like a half round pipe with a grate that fits on top of it.
2011 D. Sauter Landscape Constr. (ed. 3) xii. 155/2 To install the trench drain prior to installing surrounding paving, first mark the drain's location and elevation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > elms > [noun]
wycheOE
elmc1000
ulm-treec1000
witch hazela1400
all-heart1567
ulme1567
white elm1580
wych elm1582
witchen1594
weeping elm1606
trench-elm1676
smooth-leaved elm1731
witch elm1731
water elm1733
slippery elm1748
Scotch elm1769
wahoo1770
American elm1771
red elm1805
witches' elm1808
moose elm1810
cork-elm1813
rock elm1817
swamp elm1817
planer tree1819
Jersey elm1838
winged elm1858
sand elm1878
Exeter-elm1882
1676 M. Cook Manner of raising Forrest-trees xi. 50 There are several sorts of Elm, but the best sort..is that which hath its Leaves not much less than Line, or Lime-tree leaves, and shoots with a shoot not much less than a Sallow when it is lopped: it is called by some the Trench-Elm, by others the Marsh-Elm.
trench fever n. fever of infectious origin affecting soldiers in trenches; spec. a rickettsial disease epidemic in the trenches in the First World War (1914–18), caused by Bartonella quintana, transmitted by the human body louse, and typically characterized by fever (often lasting for five days or recurring at five-day intervals), headache, myalgia, and pain in the lower legs.In quot. 1898 perhaps yellow fever or malaria.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > fever > [noun] > other rickettsial fevers
Rocky Mountain fever1878
trench fever1898
Rocky Mountain spotted fever1903
tsutsugamushi1906
mite typhus1921
tick typhus1921
mite-borne typhus1923
scrub typhus1929
Q fever1937
1898 Ann. Rep. War Dept. (U.S. House of Representatives, 55th Congr. 3rd Session) 785 The intense infection of trench fever continued its work until over 4,000 men and officers were on sick report.
1915 Lancet 25 Sept. 734/1 The case of a twice-inoculated soldier suffering from trench fever, whose case was diagnosed as pyrexia.
1917 G. S. Gordon Let. 22 May (1943) 77 He says I've got what they call vaguely ‘Trench’ Fever.
1933 J. Buchan Prince of Captivity i. iii. 85 Blown-up, buried, dysentery, trench-fever, and most varieties of wounds.
1976 West Lancs. Evening Gaz. 13 Dec. 7/1 After convalescing in England from trench fever, he successfully applied for a commission.
2001 Guardian 29 Oct. i. 11/3 At least three people, including two rough sleepers, contracted trench fever in London last year.
trench foot n. a condition of the feet recognized in soldiers serving in the trenches during the First World War (1914–18), caused by prolonged exposure to damp and cold and characterized by swelling and pain (= immersion foot n. at immersion n. Compounds 2) (also hyperbolical in later use); (in plural) feet affected with this condition, or the condition itself.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > [noun] > disorders of extremities > of the foot
foot evil1562
buniona1718
onion1785
Madura foot1855
fallen arch1858
claw-foot1862
foot-drop1886
tarsalgia1890
Morton's metatarsalgia1891
fallen instep1904
Madura disease1904
trench foot1915
maduromycosis1916
drop-foot1921
immersion foot1941
1915 Lancet 30 Jan. 230/1 The so-called cases of trench pain or trench feet usually have no tissue destruction, no blebs, and not even any discolouration of the skin.
1915 Lancet 17 Apr. 812/2 The term trench-foot appears to us to be the most suitable for a condition which has practically only been met with in those who have had to remain for long periods in the trenches.
a1918 W. Owen Poems (1920) 23 But never..fever, trench-foot, shock, Untrapped the wretch. And death seemed still withheld.
1982 Times 31 May 5/3 There have been cases of exposure and trench foot.
1997 Independent on Sunday 29 June i. 3/1 Trench foot, the curse of the First World War soldier, has made a comeback among the peace-loving music fans at Glastonbury.
2007 Grazia 9 July 45/2 We wake up to the sound of torrential rain, and my lack of socks means I start to worry about trench foot.
trench grave n. a trench in which a number of bodies are buried, esp. those of soldiers fallen in battle.
ΚΠ
1854 Monthly Christian Spectator Oct. 634 No one dreamed of refusing the only path open..to an honourable profession, even though it might lead to the trench-grave.
1903 O. Causton in Cornhill Mag. Feb. 202 The long white trench-graves on the summit move one more, perhaps, than any others in South Africa.
2003 Times 11 Apr. 4/2 Bravo Company of 10th Engineers..spent the day scooping up piles of the dead in their bulldozer and depositing them in makeshift trench graves.
trench-guard n. Military (now historical) a guard providing protection to trench-diggers during a siege (cf. sense 2).
ΚΠ
1698 tr. Baron de Pointis Acct. taking of Cartagena 82 In the mean time, the Chevalier de Pointis, who had first mounted, was in an instant joyn'd by Gougon, Jaucourt, and Marolles, whose Battalion was on the Trench-Guard.
1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. at Revers One or two banquettes are generally thrown up..in order that the trench guard may make a stand upon the reverse when it happens to be attacked.
1940 G. Heyer Spanish Bride i. 16 Even the trench-guards were unusually quiet; there was nothing to be heard from the trenches but a low murmuring noise.
2004 P. Haythornthwaite Peninsular War 233 To protect them, a trench-guard was required of three-quarters of the strength of the garrison.
trench kitchen n. Military a kitchen in the trenches (sense 2b); (also) a field kitchen where the fire is made in a small trench.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > cooking establishment or kitchen > [noun] > field or army kitchen
field kitchen1796
trench kitchen1860
slum gun1917
soup gun1918
popote1928
society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > [noun] > provision or procurement of supplies > supplies > ration > field kitchen
field kitchen1796
trench kitchen1860
popote1928
1860 C. Knight Eng. Cycl.: Arts & Sci. III. 183 He has contrived an oven to be introduced in the chimney of his trench-kitchen.
1900 Westm. Gaz. 19 Jan. 2/1 The trench kitchen is more generally used in South Africa.
1916 J. N. Hall Kitchener's Mob vi. 76 Along the latter were built most of the dugouts, lavatories, and trench kitchens.
1940 Brit. Red Cross Soc. Cookery & Catering Man. (ed. 4) iii. 28 The Trench Kitchen.—One or two trenches, according to the number to be cooked for, are dug, 7½ feet long, 9 inches wide, and 1½ feet deep at the mouth.
1986 J. Fleming Well-fed Backpacker (rev. ed.) xx. 167 You might cook behind a shelter..or a windwall built of snow. A trench kitchen is very protected.
1997 J. Millen Salute to Service x. 115 Trench kitchens, dressing stations, dug-out shelters and other amenities were made weatherproof and drainage systems improved.
trench knife n. a knife, typically with a double-edged blade and a knuckleduster on the handle, used for hand-to-hand fighting in trenches, as on a trench raid; (later more generally) any combat knife of a similar design.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > side arms > knife or dagger > [noun] > types of
anlacec1300
misericord1324
bodkin1386
baselardc1390
popperc1390
wood-knife1426
spudc1440
pavade1477
bistoury1490
skene1527
dudgeon1548
sword dagger1567
machete1575
kris1589
bum dagger1596
stillado1607
stiletto1611
steelet1616
hanjar1621
pisaa1640
jockteleg1642
khanjar1684
bayonet1692
kuttar1696
parazonium1751
skene-ochles1754
scalping-knife1759
snick-a-snee1760
manchette1762
snickersnee1775
guard-dagger1786
boarding knife1807
scalp-knife1807
kukri1811
skene-dhu1811
parang1820
stylet1820
belt knife1831
bowie-knife1836
scalper1837
sheath-knife1837
toothpick1837
tumbok lada1839
snick-and-snee knife1843
tickler1844
bowie1846
toad-sticker1858
simi1860
scramasax1862
kinjal1863
left-hander1869
main gauche1869
aikuchi1875
tanto1885
toad-stabber1885
cinquedea1897
trench knife1898
puukko1925
panga1929
quillon dagger1950
flick-knife1957
ratchet knife1966
sai1973
ratchet1975
1898 Weekly News & Courier (Charleston, S. Carolina) 18 May 3/4 They lie down, and with their trench knives or bayonets, scoop up loose earth.
1926 Scribner's Mag. Aug. 194/2 A Boche lad I killed with me trench-knife.
1979 R. Blythe View in Winter iv. 188 I had a trench knife in one hand and a pistol in the other.
2013 Border Mail (Austral.) (Nexis) 5 Nov. 3 Police allegedly found pen pistols, two rifle silencers and a trench knife at his work premises.
trench light n. Military (now historical) (in the First World War (1914–18)) a kind of flare used to illuminate enemy trenches during night fighting; cf. star shell n. 1.
ΚΠ
1915 Times of India 3 July 11/3 ‘Very Lights’ are the calcium trench lights which are thrown into the sky in night trench fighting.
1917 H. Conover Diary 13 July in Diary WWI Pilot (2004) ii. 96 Star shells and trench lights shot about & the whole crowd sang.
1918 G. Frankau Judgement of Valhalla 18 Downwards, and on, where trench-lights shone—For we, we might not rest.
1991 M. Gilbert Churchill xvii. 365 He also appealed for..trench lights that would be at least as good as those used by the Germans.
trenchman n. a labourer who digs trenches for pipe-laying.
ΚΠ
1895 Morning Post 21 Feb. 2/7 The whole of the Company's district inspectors, foremen, turncocks, and trenchmen, supplemented by several hundreds of extra men, were engaged with the standpipes.
1960 F. L. Clark Growing Old in Mechanized World App. 119 They may be promoted after a year or so to the status and pay of trenchman.
2009 J. M. Turner Excavation Syst. iv. 112 This requires the excavator operator to stop while the trench man does this.
trench-master n. Military (historical and rare after 17th cent.) an officer in charge of the construction of trenches (sense 2).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer according to function > [noun] > officers with other specific functions
Master of the Artillery1512
trench-master1577
supernumerary1644
trench-sergeanta1753
beach-master1874
observation officer1904
censor1914
cipher officer1915
range safety officer1942
1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1767/2 Edward Chamberlayne Esquier, Captaine of the pioners. Sir Richard Legh, trenchmaister.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 148 Captain Josias Bodley, Trench-Master.
1644 G. Innes Mil. Rudim. 23 Next, is the Trench-Master. Hee hath respect to Fortifications.
1991 Times (Nexis) 10 June The Royal Engineers had its origins in the early 17th century as Trench-masters; such units had civilian status until 1787 when they became a military corps.
trench mortar n. a light simple mortar designed to propel a bomb from one's own trenches into those of the enemy.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > mortar > trench mortar
trench mortar1871
minenwerfer1914
mine-thrower1914
Minnie1915
Stokes1915
toc emma1916
T.M.1925
Moaning Minnie1944
1871 Times 2 Mar. 4/2 Total, 132 pieces, exclusive of the little trench mortars and field guns.
1915 D. O. Barnett Let. in In Happy Memory 107 The Germans are bombing our trenches with a trench mortar.
1973 M. Woodhouse Blue Bone xii. 129 What looked like a three-foot metal pipe with a rectangular base... ‘Five-centimeter trench mortar,’ said Yancy.
2000 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 20 Jan. a12/1 Some rebel units have consisted of no more than a sniper, a machine gunner and a fighter with a trench mortar.
trench-mortar v. transitive to attack or bombard with a trench mortar.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > management of artillery > operate (artillery) [verb (transitive)] > bombard > assail with types of artillery
trench-mortar1916
minnie1930
mortar1944
1916 Manch. Guardian 6 Mar. 5/4 They made a barrage of shrapnel over our assembly trenches as well as trench-mortaring our front one.
1920 Chambers's Jrnl. 20 Mar. 254/1 He shelled it; he trench-mortared it, he raided it.
2009 J. Sheen Steel of DLI iv. 147 The left front company in trenches E24 and E25 were heavily trench-mortared.
trench mouth n. an acute and severe form of stomatitis, common in soldiers serving in the trenches during the First World War (1914–18), characterized by necrosis and ulceration of gingival tissue and associated with a mixed bacterial infection including many anaerobes; also called Vincent's angina.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disorders of mouth > [noun] > stomatitis
water canker1589
stomacace1657
canker sore1849
stomatitis1859
Ludwig's angina1876
tylosis1890
Vincent1902
trench mouth1916
1916 Evening Herald (Klamath Falls, Oregon) 8 July 3/5 (heading) ‘Trench mouth’ latest war ill. Both the Allies and Teutons suffer, and medical world is mystified by the strange malady affecting soldiers.
1918 Evening Mail 1 May 3/4 We have trench mouth, just as we have trench feet. Otherwise known as ulcero-membranous stomatitis, or Vincent's disease.
1946 J. Lees-Milne Diary 1 Jan. (1983) 3 Went to the dentist who said it is trench mouth that I am suffering from.
1981 G. Priestland Priestland's Progress 8 Chris Rees had to take to his bed with a rare attack of trench mouth.
2010 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 13 Feb. (Good Weekend section) 9 My father always told me..if you kiss too many boys, you'll get trench mouth.
trench periscope n. now historical a kind of periscope used in trench warfare to observe enemy lines from inside one's own trenches; cf. trenchoscope n., trenchscope n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > [noun] > trench-periscope
periscope1899
trenchoscope1915
trench periscope1915
trenchscope1915
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instrument for distant vision > [noun] > periscope (at sea) > periscope (on land)
periscope1899
hyposcope1902
trenchoscope1915
trench periscope1915
trenchscope1915
1915 Daily Mail 9 Jan. 4/6 The majority of these lives could have been saved by the use of a very simple instrument—a trench periscope.
1961 Life 17 Feb. 67/1 It brought about the introduction or reintroduction of a truly staggering array of weapons and military hardware: hand grenades, land mines, naval mines..telescopic sights, machine guns, trench periscopes, an experimental submarine, booby traps and many more.
2013 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Nexis) 29 Aug. 20 Thousands of range-finders were manufactured in the run-up to the First World War, and the firm was also producing trench periscopes, submarine periscopes and gun sights.
trench planting n. the practice of planting or sowing in trenches (as opposed to in single holes or on the surface of the soil).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > planting > [noun] > trench-planting
trench planting1778
1778 J. Abercrombie Universal Gardener & Botanist at Planting Trench Planting.—This method is sometimes practiced in the nursery-way, in putting out seedling and other small trees and shrubs in rows..and always in Planting Asparagus, and is performed by opening a long narrow trench with a spade.
1813 J. M. Good et al. Pantologia at Planting The chief methods are as follows hole-planting; trench-planting; [etc.].
1905 Rep. Kansas State Board Agric. Dec. 153 In trench planting, each successive set of roots is put forth near the surface, but below it, where they at once take hold upon the soil.
1905 Terms Forestry & Logging (Bull. U.S. Dept. Agric., Bureau Forestry, No. 61) 25 Trench planting, a method of planting on dry ground, in which the seeds of young trees are set in pits or trenches. Syn.: pit planting.
1939 H. H. Bennett Soil Conservation xxiv. 540 (caption) Trench planting of honeysuckle on highway cuts, Southwestern Virginia.
2007 F. Marshall Bradley Rodale's Veg. Garden Probl. Solver 332/2 Trench planting is the traditional method, but surface planting is a good choice to minimize digging.
trench raid n. (in the First World War (1914–18)) a small-scale nocturnal attack against an enemy trench.
ΚΠ
1915 Times 18 Dec. 8/2 (headline) German story of our trench raids.
1917 A. G. Empey Over Top 313 Trench raid, several men detailed to go over the top at night and shake hands with the Germans, and, if possible, persuade some of them to be prisoners.
1961 W. Vaughan-Thomas Anzio i. 5 A struggle in the mud, complete with duck-boards, trench-raids and patrols in no-man's-land.
1995 Jrnl. Mil. Hist. 59 544 Tales of bloody trench raids to capture prisoners and then roughing them up during interrogation.
trench rat n. now historical the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus (which infested the trenches in the First World War (1914–18)).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > superfamily Myomorpha (mouse, rat, vole, or hamster) > [noun] > family Muridae > genus Rattus (rat) > rattus norvegicus (brown rat)
Norway rat1753
wharf-rat1823
sewer-rat1851
trench rat1916
1916 G. Frankau Song of Guns 22 The trench-rats patter And nibble among the rations.
1917 A. G. Empey Over Top 308 There are three things in this world that Tommy loves: a slacker, a German, and a trench-rat.
2008 M. A. Yockelson Borrowed Soldiers xiv. 110 It was a trench rat retreating to its hole.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer according to function > [noun] > officers with other specific functions
Master of the Artillery1512
trench-master1577
supernumerary1644
trench-sergeanta1753
beach-master1874
observation officer1904
censor1914
cipher officer1915
range safety officer1942
a1753 P. Drake Memoirs (1755) II. iii. 73 He would make me Trench-Sergeant... In this Duty I was to attend in the Trenches twice a Day,..to have under my Command a Detachment of thirty unarmed Men..to gather the Pick-axes, Shovels, Wheel-Barrows, etc. that should be left or scattered by the Workmen.
trench-stale adj. (of a soldier in the First World War (1914–18)) weary of or exhausted by life in the trenches.
ΚΠ
1915 R. Kipling France at War v. 55 One understood after a while the nightmare that lays hold of trench-stale men.
1918 F. Palmer Amer. in France x. 119 It was they who made any trench-stale American take a new interest in trenches and trench life.
1966 P. Dale in Listener 4 Aug. 165/2 That trench-stale breath, and gas swirling across the shell-holes there to choke you dead.
trench war n. a war carried on by means of trench warfare, esp. the First World War (1914–18); also figurative.
ΚΠ
1914 Daily Mail 24 Nov. 4 It is likely to prove useful in any trench war in which the trenches are moderately near.
1923 R. Kipling Irish Guards in Great War I. 20 The trench-war was solidifying itself.
1991 Athlon's Pro Football 81/2 Irwin simply outworks his opponent and wins most of the trench wars.
2013 Washington Post (Nexis) 10 Nov. a1 He was assigned to the 310th Infantry Regiment band as a cornet player but was not spared the horrors of the trench war.
Derivatives
trench-like adj. resembling a trench.
ΚΠ
1801 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 704/1 A trench-like appearance.
1855 Huddersfield Chron. 20 Oct. 5/1 In the trench-like excavation now going on for the new sewer in Cloth-hall street, the workmen have turned out a considerable quantity of fossilised timber.
1908 Geogr. Jrnl. 31 148 The gorge..is remarkably trench-like and regular... Its width from crest to crest, if my measurement with a range-finder be trustworthy, is approximately 40 yards.
1957 New Scientist 7 Nov. 16 Criss-crossing the lunar surface there are alignments of mountains, valleys and trench-like formations called rilles.
2003 New Yorker 16 June 140/3 Every morning, the janitor dug a trenchlike path in the snow from the gate to the school.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
trenchv.
/trɛn(t)ʃ/, U.S. /trɛn(t)ʃ/ I. To cut, make a cutting.
1. † b. To cut or carve in or into a surface. Obsolete.† c. To make (a cut, gash, or wound) in or into something. Obsolete. rare.
a. transitive. To cut; to divide by cutting, slice, cut in pieces; to sever by cutting, cut off; to cut into, make a cut in; to cut one's way. Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > cutting > cut [verb (transitive)] > cut through
shearOE
hacka1325
through-carvec1330
through-cutc1330
detrench1398
rivea1400
trench1483
cross-cut1590
rescind1598
transect1634
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. ciiijv/2 Thomas is as moche to saye as..double, or trenchyd and hewen.
1485 W. Caxton tr. Thystorye & Lyf Charles the Grete sig. dj/2 Fyerabras..gaf hym a stroke vpon his helme so sharply that he trenched moo than v C maylles.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vi. iv. 32 Enee hym self..to the, Proserpyne, A ȝeld kow all to trynschit.
?1518 A. Barclay tr. D. Mancinus Myrrour Good Maners sig. Biii Thoughe the toth [of a serpent] trencheth, the tayle bereth poyson.
?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth viii. f. 11v To brynge vnto hym the heed of Hiempsal trenched from the body.
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey III. x. 615 Draw thy faulchion, and on ev'ry side Trench the black earth a cubit long and wide.
1853 W. C. Bryant Poems (new ed.) 182 Trench the strong hard mould with the spade.
1867 J. A. Froude Short Stud. (ed. 2) 167 They are trenching their way thro' the weak place in the Pentateuch.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > sculpture or carving > incising or intaglio > incise (marks or figures) [verb (transitive)]
writeeOE
gravec1275
raspc1400
insculp?a1475
insculpt1487
scrape1532
sculp?1533
engrave1542
enchase1579
incarve1596
engraven1605
trencha1616
scratch1644
style1864
lithograph1872
scribe1896
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iii. ii. 7 This weake impresse of Loue, is as a figure Trenched in ice. View more context for this quotation
1665 J. Webb Vindic. Stone-Heng (1725) 148 Inscriptions cut or trencht in one of the Stones.
1665 J. Webb Vindic. Stone-Heng (1725) 150 Those..had Epigraphs trencht into the Craggs.
ΚΠ
1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. Giij The wide wound, that the boare had trencht In his soft flanke. View more context for this quotation
?1610 J. Fletcher Faithfull Shepheardesse iv. sig. G2 The wound by cruell knife, Trencht into him.
2. 1834 S. Cooper Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) IV. 80 A young Chipewyan had separated from the rest of his band for the purpose of trenching beaver.
a. To cut or make a cutting through a ridge or raised surface. The object of the verb may be (a) the cutting made, (b) the ridge or surface cut through.
ΚΠ
1601 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Trauellers Breuiat 42 For the ease of pilgrims..iournying from Cair to Mecha, she began to trench a water-course all alongst the way.
1865 A. Geikie Scenery & Geol. Scotl. ix. 238 The ridge is deeply trenched with gullies and narrow glens.
1865 A. Geikie Scenery & Geol. Scotl. x. 285 If then the chain of the Sidlaws once ran unbroken to the south-west..how could the Tay trench it?
1881 Geikie in Nature 3 Nov. 1/1 In the general denudation of the country, deep valleys have been trenched through it.
b. figurative (with the surface cut or furrowed as object)
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > skin > textures or states of skin > [verb (transitive)] > wrinkle
frounce1390
shrinka1398
rivel1543
irrugate1566
wrinkle1566
plough1590
wrinklec1590
furrow1597
purse1598
ruge1615
trench1624
lirkc1686
seam1695
line1819
wrink1821
engrain1862
the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > form a recess in [verb (transitive)] > form (a groove) > make grooves in
gutter1387
groop1412
channel?1440
chamfer1565
flute1578
plough1594
seam1596
entrench1607
furrow1609
trench1624
groove1686
striate1709
quirk1797
stripe1842
engroove1880
1624 F. Quarles Iob Militant xi. 50 Thy Hand hath trencht my cheekes with water-furrowes.
1786 R. Burns To Haggis in Poems & Songs (1968) I. 311 His knife see Rustic-labour dight,..Trenching your gushing entrails bright, Like onie ditch.
1840 R. H. Horne Gregory VII iv. i Oft have I marked a deep awe trench his face.
1868 J. T. Nettleship Ess. Browning's Poetry iii. 95 A mouth..trenched on either side by early pronounced lines.
c. Nautical. to trench the ballast: see quots.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > other nautical operations > [verb (intransitive)] > specific damage limitation operations
bail1624
to trench the ballast1627
fother1800
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. vii. 33 To finde a leake, they trench the Ballast, that is, to diuide it.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Trench the ballast, to divide the ballast in a ship's hold to get at a leak, or to trim and stow it.
d. to trench beaver: to cut their dam, so as to catch the beavers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting specific animals > hunt specific animal [verb (intransitive)] > hunt beaver
to trench beaver1834
Cf. 1830 E. T. Bennett Gardens & Menagerie Zool. Soc. I. 167 When the sheet of water they inhabit is merely kept up by a dam, they are..taken up by letting off the water, and leaving their huts completely dry.]
II. From trench n.; to do something to, with, or by a trench.
3. † d. intransitive. Of a torrent: To cut its way. Obsolete.
a. To cut a trench or trenches in (the ground).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > ditching or drainage > ditch [verb (transitive)]
ditch1393
gutterc1420
water-furrow?1523
trench1530
gut1557
plough-trench1712
thorough-drain1838
neck1844
sheugh1882
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 761/2 I trench the grounde, je trenche..They have trenched a large myle and more.
1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII c. 35 The place..so broken dygged or trenched.
1870 N. F. Hele Aldeburgh iv. 25 We trenched the tumulus in a radiate manner, from the centre towards the circumference.
1872 G. Dowker in Archaeologia Cantiana 8 8 We subsequently trenched the surface of the platform.
b. spec. in Agriculture and Horticulture. To make a series of trenches in digging or ploughing (a piece of ground), so as to bring the lower soil to the surface. to trench up, to lay (land) in trenches and ridges alternately (cf. ridge v. 2); to trench down, to bury (soil or weeds) in trenching. Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > break up land [verb (transitive)] > turn over
turnc1425
to turn up1523
trench1573
to turn over1580
whelm1652
invert1712
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > break up land [verb (transitive)] > throw up ridges
rig?1523
ridge?1530
to trench up1763
upset1764
to lay up1842
hill1884
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > break up land [verb (transitive)] > turn over > cover by turning over
to turn in1532
underturn1600
to trench down1799
ridge1819
point1828
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 35v Thy garden plot lately, wel trenched & muckt.
1649 Surv. Manor of Wymbledon in Archaeologia (1792) 10 432 A musk-milion ground trenched, manured, and very well ordered for the groweth of musmilions.
1763 J. Mills New Syst. Pract. Husbandry IV. 68 This may..be prevented by..trenching the ground up in ridges.
1793 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) 5 11 I trenched up the whole to the depth of eighteen inches.
1798 W. Nicol Sc. Forcing Gardener (ed. 2) 202 Trench three spits deep, by which the bottom and top are reversed, and the middle remains in the middle.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth App. 491 Many farmers were wont to trench down the low moss, and to cover it furrow deep, with clay taken out of the trench.
1914 N.E.D. at Trench Mod. The garden ought to be trenched.
c. intransitive or absol. To dig a trench or trenches.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (intransitive)] > other specific activities in mining
trench1786
rob1811
tamp1819
ride1854
slab1871
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > ditching or drainage > ditch [verb (intransitive)]
ditch1377
plough-trench1712
trench1833
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > break up land [verb (intransitive)] > turn over soil
whelm1652
trench1833
1786 in J. Lloyd Old S. Wales Iron Works (1906) 34 Free power..to bore, dig, delve, and trench in, upon, or under the said..Parcel of land.
1833 H. Martineau Tale of Tyne i Walter was..busy trenching in his garden.
1882 Garden 30 Dec. 577/1 Trench deeply..and as early in the winter as possible.
1882 Garden 30 Dec. 577/1 When trenching..use half decayed manure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > flow [verb (intransitive)] > with agitated movement or rush
buschc1400
bullera1522
purla1586
frizado1605
trench1616
tottle1717
fret1727
brattle1850
1616 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals II. i. 15 As all the Floods (Downe trenching from small groues, and greater woods) The vast insatiate Sea doth still deuoure.
4. transitive. To furnish with, set, or place in a trench.† a. To divert (a river) by means of a trench. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > stream > [verb (transitive)] > lead or extend a watercourse or channel > divert stream > in spec way
trench1598
flume1876
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iii. i. 108 A little charge wil trench him [sc. the Trent] here, And on this Northside win this cape of land, And then he runs straight and euen. View more context for this quotation
b. To set or plant in a trench.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > planting > plant plants [verb (transitive)] > plant in trench
trench1678
1678 R. L'Estrange tr. Epistles ix. 76 in Seneca's Morals Abstracted (1679) This would not have been..if you had Trench'd them, and Water'd them.
1914 N.E.D. at Trench Mod. Celery is usually trenched.
c. To bury in a trench.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > burial > types of burial or entombment > bury in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > bury in specific place
pantheonize1801
pigeonhole1858
trench1870
1870 Standard 14 Dec. They detail squads of their soldiers to trench their fallen comrades.
d. To drain (land) by means of open trenches or ditches; to ditch.
ΚΠ
1811 T. Davis Gen. View Agric. Wilts. (new ed.) 261 Trenching or Guttering Land, draining it with open drains.
1875 [implied in: L. F. Tasistro tr. Comte de Paris Hist. Civil War Amer. I. 397 All these works were executed by the soldiers, who showed themselves excellent trenchers. (at trencher n.2 2)].
5. † c. intransitive. To cast trenches, in siege works; in quot. 1623, to make one's way by trenching (figurative). to trench at: to lay siege to by means of trenches.
a. Military. To surround or fortify with a trench; to cast a trench about, around (a post, army, town, etc.); to entrench; also, to confine by means of a trench (rare, ? obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > protect or surround with rampart [verb (transitive)] > protect or surround with trenches
ditch13..
dikec1330
entrench1548
trench1548
re-entrencha1595
inditch1598
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. xlvv The Frenchmen diched, trenched, and paled their lodgynges for feare of afterclappes.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. clxvv The place which they had trenched, dytched, and fortefied with ordenaunce.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccxxv The duke of Somerset..trenched his campe rounde about of suche an altitude, and so strongly.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 677 Bands Of Pioners with Spade and Pickaxe arm'd Forerun the Royal Camp, to trench a Field, Or cast a Rampart. View more context for this quotation
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad V. xx. 175 A Mound Of Earth congested, wall'd, and trench'd around.
1827 J. Keble Christian Year II. lx. 39 Now foes shall trench thee round, And lay thee even with earth.
1899 [see trenched adj. at Derivatives]. b. figurative. To entrench.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > make safe or secure [verb (transitive)]
stablishc1384
assure1413
sure?a1425
secure1587
assecurea1600
trench1601
safe1602
insafe1628
retrench1705
1601 J. Marston et al. Iacke Drums Entertainm. i. sig. A4v Trench your selfe within the peoples loue.
1624 J. Gee Foot out of Snare 46 Trenching themselues in the Mines of their Labyrinths at home, or masking in their gold and siluer abroad.
1630 P. Massinger Renegado ii. iv. sig. E A Hermitin a desert trenchd with prayers.
1759 W. Mason Caractacus 52 I spy'd their helms 'Mid brakes and boughs trench'd in the heath below.
1838 T. Chalmers Wks. XII. 81 One who..was..trenched among what he thought the speculations of orthodoxy.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > action or state of siege or blockade > besiege or blockade [verb (transitive)] > approach by trenches
approach1598
zappec1600
to trench at1744
c1600 Hist. & Life James VI (1825) 142 The pioners had trenchit [ed. 1804 trinchett] on the castell hill, and had erectit a braid sconce to hyde thame.
1623 B. Jonson Time Vindicated 125 The Boy with buttons, and the Basket-wench To vent their wares, into my workes do trench!
1744 E. Young Complaint: Night the Sixth 2 Like powerful Armies trenching at a Town, By slow, and silent, but resistless Sap.
III. To extend, stretch, or encroach, and related uses.† 6. † b. intransitive. To extend or stretch (to a distance or in some direction); to trend. Obsolete. rare.
a. intransitive. to trench to (unto): To extend in effect to; to extend so as to affect or touch. (Cf. touch v. 25) Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > operation upon something > have effect on [verb (transitive)] > extend so as to affect
to trench to (unto)1612
1612 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 223 The thing deduced to Iudgement, may be meum & tuum, when the reason and consequence thereof may trench to point of estate.
a1625 H. Finch Law (1636) 83 In law it is said the demise of the King, and a gift unto the King, without saying more, trencheth to his successors.
1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. 209 b Because the money at the beginning trenched to the Feoffee in manner as a dutie.
1633 T. Nash Quaternio 234 If a man shall suborne two witnesses to depose a thing which trencheth to the life of a third person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > extend in space [verb (intransitive)] > extend in a certain direction
liec1000
shootc1000
drawc1180
stretcha1387
streek1388
bear1556
trend1598
tend1604
take1610
to make out1743
to put out1755
trench1768
make1787
1768 Defoe's Capt. Singleton 117 The land trenched away to the west.
1775 B. Romans Conc. Nat. Hist. E. & W. Florida App. 12 The shore is pretty bold too, except at the two ends, where the bars of said two rivers trench off a great way.
1775 B. Romans Conc. Nat. Hist. E. & W. Florida App. 19 From Hobé inlet we find the coast trenching about S 20 E or nearly SSE for about 3½ leagues.
7. † a. to trench into (unto): To ‘cut’ into, to enter into so as to affect or concern intimately. Obsolete.† d. transitive. To trench or encroach upon. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [verb (intransitive)]
reckeOE
recka1250
attainc1374
beforcec1375
pertaina1382
concern1477
import1539
signifya1616
to trench into (unto)1621
to bear (a) (great) state1623
urge1654
relate1655
bulk1672
refer1677
argufy1751
to be no small drinka1774
tell1779
reckon1811
to count for (much, little, nothing, etc.)1857
to stand for something (or nothing)1863
shout1876
count1885
mind1915
rate1926
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > go or come into [verb (transitive)] > in unwelcome or unwarranted manner
to trench into (unto)1621
top1664
trespass1720
barge1911
muscle1929
1621 H. Elsynge Notes Deb. House of Lords (1870) 59 This trencheth deeper unto us then we all conceave. A delinquent is brought before us, and, before yt was determined, resumed into the Kinges hands.
1622 E. Misselden Free Trade (ed. 2) 131 It..is a matter that trencheth into the Supreme power and dignity of the King, and is peculiar to Him alone.
1641 W. Hakewill Libertie of Subj. 91 A thing which trencheth as deeply into the privat interest of the Subject as the laying of Impositions.
b. to trench on or upon: To encroach or infringe (however slightly) on or upon a region which is the domain of another. †to trench too near, to trench too nigh, = to come dangerously near infringing upon (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > be similar [verb (intransitive)] > border upon, approach, or approximate
coast1382
to want little (also naught)a1500
approacha1538
bear1582
sympathize1605
to trench on or upon1622
neighboura1640
to border on or upona1694
approximate1771
verge1827
begin1833
society > morality > dueness or propriety > moral impropriety > be morally improper for [verb (transitive)] > infringe or encroach on
attaina1382
pinchc1400
accroach1423
usurp1447
to usurp on or upon1493
invade?1521
encroachc1534
jetc1590
enjamb1600
to trench on or upon1622
trench1631
trample1646
to gain on or upon1647
trespass1652
impose1667
impinge1758
infringe1769
the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > tendency > tend or incline [verb (transitive)] > tend, lead, or conduce to
forwenda1325
tend1560
sway1570
affect1612
to trench on or upon1622
apta1640
predeterminea1667
to go far to1668
to run into ——1753
orient1952
tilt1976
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 15 The King..being desirous to know, if any man of worth had presumed so farre to trench vpon what he had done.
1629 N. Carpenter Achitophel (1640) ii. 78 [It] seems to me to trench too farre on Gods Prerogative.
a1633 Visct. Falkland Hist. Edward II (1680) 59 Nor may you trench too near your Soveraigns actions.
1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 98 They would not allow their secular affaires to trench too nigh that daies devotion.
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Richard II ccc, in Poems (1878) III. 212 But least my running Tent may Trench vpon Another's feild, I fixe my Pole downe here.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 553 This scheme..may seem to trench on the liberty of individuals.
1865 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire (new ed.) VIII. lxiv. 116 He trenches a little on the night,..but no one finds the time long.
1866 Mrs. H. Wood St. Martin's Eve I. xv. 298 Though I squandered my own property, I have not trenched on yours.
c. in vaguer use, To come in thought, speech, or action close upon (something); to border closely upon, to verge upon; to approach towards; hence, to have a bearing upon or reference to (something).
ΚΠ
1636 P. Heylyn Hist. Sabbath i. 190 Some..have trenched too neere upon the Rabbins, in binding men to nice and scrupulous observances.
a1639 W. Whately Prototypes (1640) iii. xxxix. 24 He did trench a little too neare upon an untruth.
1643 R. Baker Chron. Kings of Eng. ii. 5 Knowing how far they trenched upon the Dukes destruction, and her own.
1691 Case of Exeter-Coll. Pref. sig. A ijv Insignificant suggestions that trench nothing at all on the merits of the Cause.
1775 Fielding's True Patriot in Wks. IX. 329 They hold them [sc. other persons and things] of no consequence,..unless they trench somewhat towards their own order or calling.
1841 I. D'Israeli Amenities Lit. II. 197 Some unlucky jest, trenching on treason, flew from the lips of the unguarded jester.
1876 C. M. Davies Unorthodox London (rev. ed.) 20 The opinions of this school—where they trench most closely on orthodoxy.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > dueness or propriety > moral impropriety > be morally improper for [verb (transitive)] > infringe or encroach on
attaina1382
pinchc1400
accroach1423
usurp1447
to usurp on or upon1493
invade?1521
encroachc1534
jetc1590
enjamb1600
to trench on or upon1622
trench1631
trample1646
to gain on or upon1647
trespass1652
impose1667
impinge1758
infringe1769
1631 B. Jonson Staple of Newes v. vi. 48 in Wks. II Who did? I? I trench the liberty o' the subiects?
Derivatives
ˈtrenched adj.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iii. iv. 26 Safe in a ditch he bides, With twenty trenched gashes on his head. View more context for this quotation
1763 J. Mills New Syst. Pract. Husbandry IV. 322 Whatever..might afterward press down the trenched earth.
1899 Daily News 14 Dec. 5/5 The Highlanders formed up to renew the attack on the trenched kopje.
ˈtrenching adj.
ΚΠ
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie ii. xi. 77 With sharpe Trenching blade of bright steele.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 i. i. 7 No more shall trenching war channel her fields. View more context for this quotation
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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