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n. 1. A deep furrow or ditch. 2. A long narrow ditch embanked with its own soil and used for concealment and protection in warfare. 3. A long, steep-sided valley on the ocean floor. v. trenched, trench·ing, trench·es v.tr. 1. To dig or make a trench or trenches in (land or an area, for example). 2. To place in a trench: trench a pipeline. v.intr. 1. To dig a trench or trenches. 2. To encroach. Often used with on or upon: "The bishop exceeded his powers, and trenched on those of the king" (Francis Parkman). 3. To verge or border. Often used with on or upon: "a broad playfulness that trenched on buffoonery" (George Meredith). [Middle English trenche, from Old French, a cutting, slice, from trenchier, to cut, from Vulgar Latin *trincāre, perhaps partly from Latin *trīncāre, to cut in three (from earlier *trīnicāre : Latin rīnī, three each, triple; see trei- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + Latin -icāre, as in duplicāre, to double, split in two; see DUPLICATE) and partly from a Gaulish root *trink-, to cut, behead, found in Late Latin trincus trincus, a kind of gladiator who was subject to particular Gaulish customs and probably fought until beheaded (of Gaulish origin, perhaps ultimately from a pre-Roman substrate root *trenk-, to cut, or perhaps akin to Latin truncus, trunk; see terə2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).] |
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