▪ I. trench, n.
(trɛn(t)ʃ)
Also 4–7 trenche, (6 trenshe, Sc. treinch, trinch, -e, trynsch(e, trinsch(e, 7 trintch). See also tranche.
[a. OF. trenche (1288 in Godef.), later OF. and mod.F. tranche, an act of cutting, a cut, a gash; a ditch or trench; a slice, etc., verbal n. from OF. trenchier, F. trancher to cut, trench v. See also tranche. Many of the Eng. senses, wanting or obs. in mod.F., are supplied by tranchée.]
† 1. A path or track cut through a wood or forest; an alley; a hollow walk. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 384 And in a trench [v.r. trenche] forth in the park gooth she. c 1420 Lydg. Thebes i. in Chaucer's Wks. (1561) 358/2 As thei rengen the trenches by and by Thei heard a noise. 1575 Turberv. Venerie 98 By this word Trench is vnderstoode euery small way, not so commonly vsed... So is there also a difference betweene a Trench and a path. For trenches as I say, be wayes and walkes in a woode or Forest. |
2. a. A long and narrow hollow cut out of the ground, a cutting; a ditch, fosse; a deep furrow. Also
fig.| 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. ix. 23 To lepen ouer trenchis or dyches. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 13 They moued neare vnto the trenche or ditche of the castell. 1677 A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 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. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia vii. vi, How deep a trench of real misery do you sink, in order to raise this pile of fancied happiness! 1842 Tennyson Audley Court 41 Be shot for sixpence in a battle-field, And shovell'd up into some bloody trench. 1911 J. Ward Roman Era Brit. viii. 140 A single trench disclosed broken pottery and charcoal. |
b. An elongated channel in the sea-bed;
spec. one of the very long ones, several kilometres deep, that run parallel to the edge of a continent or an island arc and are believed to mark subduction zones.
| 1936 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. CCXXXI. 401 Recent discoveries of many valley-like trenches that interrupt the outer steeper slopes (‘continental slopes’) of continental shelves are truly startling. 1948 F. P. Shepard Submarine Geol. xi. 283 A series of deep trenches skirt the Pacific. 1963 G. L. Pickard Descriptive Physical Oceanogr. ii. 10 The greatest depths in the oceans occur in these trenches. 1972, etc. [see subduction 6]. 1975 Offshore Engineer Sept. 60/1 The Norwegian trench is a pitfall that has always tempered Norway's oil future. Crossing it is beyond the current state of pipeline technology. 1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 94 The island arcs and ocean trenches that border the northwest and southeast Pacific. |
3. Mil. An excavation of the kind described in sense 2 a, the earth from which is thrown up in front as a parapet, serving either to cover or to oppose the advance of a besieging force. Chiefly in
pl. a. More particularly applied to the ditch or excavation.
| c 1500 Three Kings Sons 42 That ther might be made grete trenches, that ther might be grete nombre of people hid theryn. 1513 Douglas æneis xi. xvii. 104 Thai..delvys trynschis all the wallis abowt. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V, 74 b, They without made mynes, cast trenches and shot gunnes dayly at the walles. 1623 Massinger Bondman ii. i, There are trenches too..In which to stand all night to the knees in water In gallants breeds the tooth-ache. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. ii. 103/2 When this excavation is behind the mound it is called a trench. |
b. pl. Including both the excavation and the mound or embankment: see
quot. 1828.
to mount, relieve the trenches: see
quot. 1706.
to open trenches: see
open v. 4 b,
quot. 1853.
| 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xvii. 20 [They] did in the meane space diligently aduaunce their trenches and approaches for planting of their ordinance. 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. vi. 12, I saw our party to their Trenches driuen. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. xiii. §22 Cromwell knew them too well to fear them..when there were no Trenches..to keep him from them. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey) s.v., 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. Ibid., 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. 1777 Watson Philip II (1839) 95 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 (ed. 2) 397 Trenches. A general term for all the approaches at a siege. 1848 Lytton Harold vii. iii, On the other side of the trenches were marching against them their own countrymen. |
† c. Sometimes more particularly applied to the rampart, mound, or embankment.
Obs.| 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. 160 To bring treis to fill the fowseis,..otheris maid sindry instrumentis to breke down thair trinschis. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 259 To bring y⊇ pionners to cast down their trenches. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 169 It was resolued that the ditches..should bee deepned, and the trenches highthned. 1678 tr. Gaya's 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 Macfarlane's Geog. Collect. (S.H.S.) II. 218 Ane ruinous tour surrounded with ane trintch of stone and earth. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. II. 100/1 Severus threw up a trench a hundred and twenty two miles long. |
d. fig. or
transf.| 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 23 The sea, which to the inhabitants is a deep trench against hostile inuasions. 1677 Gilpin Demonol. (1867) 299 A soul that is within the trenches of present peace. 1723 Mandeville Fab. Bees (1725) I. 66 Seducers..don't make their Attacks at Noon-day, but cut their Trenches at Night. 1970 G. Jackson Let. 23 Mar. in Soledad Brother (1971) 188 I've been living in the trenches where it's understood that it's us against them, hide and seek. 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. |
4. transf. Something resembling a trench.
a. A cut, scar, furrow, or deep wrinkle in the face.
| 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. v. ii. 23 Witnesse these Trenches made by griefe and care. 1823 Scott Quentin D. vii, ‘Thou name ladies' love, with such a trench in thy visage!’ said Guthrie. 1830 Godwin Cloudesley II. xii. 185 Without trench or wrinkle, in his honest countenance. |
b. Anat. and
Zool. A cavity, pit, fossa.
| 1615 Crooke Body of Man 392 That cauity which is commonly called..the Trench or Spoone of the heart. 1631 Widdowes Nat. Philos. 62 From the trench of the veynes hang downeward white, narrow veynes. 1634 T. Johnson tr. Parey's Chirurg. iii. i. (1678) 54 The trench of the heart which..the Latines [called] scrobiculus cordis. 1846 Dana Zooph. (1848) 257 Bottom of trench convoluto-porous. Ibid. Gloss., Trench (Fossa), a meandering cell in the Meandrine Corals. |
† 5. A slice.
Cf. tranche.
Obs. rare.
| 1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. (1559) 70 Take..sixe Lemons cut in trenches. |
† 6. A trencher.
Obs. rare.
(Perh. only in
pl. trenches for
trenchers.)
| 1602 in Collect. Archæol. (1863) II. 105 Pottes and cruses xxx..Trenches viij dossen. |
† 7. = trenchefil, tranchefil (in both senses).
| a. 1611 Cotgr., Trenchefile,..the trench, or trenching of a Crossebow string; that part thereof whereinto the neb of the arrow entreth. |
| b. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 251 The Indians were wont to use no bridles..but only..putting a long round trench through his [the horse's] mouth, to the edge whereof they fasten the rains, wherewithall they guide the beast. 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. i. ii. (1668) 16 Now and then drawing the trench to and fro in his Mouth. 1639 T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 345 Tye it to his snaffle, trench, or bit. c 1720 W. Gibson Farrier's Dispens. ix. iii. (1734) 201. |
† 8. A griping or colic in the horse; also, a kind of worm infesting the horse. [
= F.
tranchée;
cf. Cotgr., ‘
Trenchée.., a fretting, wringing, or griping in the bellie..; the wormes, or bellie-ache.’]
Obs.| 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. lxxiv. 246 It cureth the trenches or gryping payne in the small of the bellie or bowels. 1587 L. Mascall Govt. Cattle, Horses (1596) 133. |
9. ellipt. for
trench-coat, see sense 10 below.
| 1972 New Yorker 14 Oct. 1 (Advt.), Bonwit's velvet rain trench plays matinees and evenings. 1974 [see midi-]. 1978 N.Y. Times 30 Mar. a9/3 (Advt.), Three styles for sizes 8 to 16. Double breasted trench for reg. and petite. |
10. attrib. and
Comb., as
trench-cutting,
trench-digger,
trench-digging,
trench-fighting,
trench-guard,
trench kit,
trench life,
trench light,
trench-lines,
trench raid,
trench raiding,
trench rifle,
trench strafing,
trench system,
trench war,
trench-work;
trench-encircled,
trench-like,
trench-stale,
trench-to-trench adjs.;
trench boot, (
usu. in
pl.) combined boot and leggings;
trench-brace, an extensible screw-brace or strut used to prevent the caving in of the side walls or to support the sheet-piling of a trench;
trench-cart Mil., a narrow hand-cart on which ammunition can be carried through the trenches;
trench-cavalier Mil., a high parapet constructed by the besiegers upon the glacis to command and enfilade the covered way of the fortress;
trench-coat, a waterproofed overcoat worn by officers in the trenches; a long, belted raincoat for civilian use; hence
trench-coated a.;
trench-drain,
trench-elm: see
quots.;
trench fever, an epidemic louse-borne rickettsial disease that was common among soldiers in the war of 1914–18, causing splenomegaly and recurrent fever;
trench foot,
feet, a painful condition of the feet caused by prolonged immersion in cold water or mud, marked by swelling, blistering, and some degree of necrosis;
trench-kitchen Mil., a field-kitchen where the fire is made in a small trench;
trench-knife, a knife with a double-edged blade,
orig. used in trench raids;
trenchman, a labourer who opens trenches for pipe-laying;
† trench-master, an officer in charge of the construction of trenches;
trench mortar, a small mortar designed to propel bombs from a front trench into enemy trenches; hence as
v. trans.;
trench mouth, Vincent's angina of the mouth (see
Vincent2);
trenchoscope = next;
trench-periscope, a kind of tube-and-mirror apparatus used in trench warfare (see
quot. 1918 for
trenchscope below);
cf. prec. and
periscope 3;
trench-planting: see
quot. 1905;
trench-rat, the brown or Norway rat,
Rattus norvegicus;
trenchscope = trench periscope above;
cf. also
trenchoscope above;
† trench-sergeant,
cf. trench-master;
trench warfare, hostilities carried on by means of or in trenches; also
fig., a protracted dispute or conflict in which the parties seek to maintain their entrenched positions while launching persistent attacks upon their opponents;
cf. trench war above. See also
trench-plough.
| 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. |
| 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., *Trench-cart. |
| 1834–47 J. S. Macaulay Field Fortif. (1851) 234 A return is then made to the trench, and the whole of the end of each is converted into a *trench cavalier. 1853 Stocqueler Milit. 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. |
| 1916 W. Owen Let. 16 Aug. (1967) 405 My poor troops were wet to the bone. (But I had my *Trench Coat.) 1918 E. Ferber in Best Short Stories of 1917 209 Jo Hertz, in one of those pinch-waist belted suits and a trench coat..was a sight for mirth or pity. 1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax xi. 107, I got a job in a trench-coat factory in Manchester. 1978 W. F. Buckley Stained Glass xi. 109 A young man dressed in an old army trenchcoat walked slowly out, dragging his wooden leg like a ball and chain. |
| 1941 N. Alley I Witness xxxv. 296, I compensated my desire with the wishful thought that I'd be running across his familiar *trench-coated figure some time later. 1980 Listener 29 May 697/3 A trench-coated Micawberish librarian. |
| 1876 ‘Ouida’ Winter City vi, Palestrina often saw its lord..plan *trench-cuttings to arrest the winter-swollen brooks. |
| 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1851) II. 1045/2 Making excursions to harass the *trench-diggers. |
| 1846 J. Baxter's 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. |
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 923 *Trench Drain.—A deep ditch, or drain, which meets the trenches for the purpose of taking the water away speedily after the irrigation is performed. |
| 1676 M. Cook Forest-trees xi. 50 The best sort [of Elm] is that which..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. |
| 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. Even. Gaz. 13 Dec. 7/1 After convalescing in England from trench fever, he successfully applied for a commission. |
| 1881 W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 468 A few bits of *trench-fighting. |
| 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. 1916 W. S. Churchill Let. 6 Jan. in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1972) III. Compan. ii. 1359, I wish you wd write for me a brief description of your ‘trench feet routine’. a 1918 W. Owen Poems (1920) 23 But never..fever, trench-foot, shock, Untrapped the wretch. And death seemed still withheld. 1940 War Illustr. 12 Jan. 603/1 Though the men had plenty of food all were suffering from exposure and trench feet when they landed at a South Coast port. 1969 [see immersion foot s.v. immersion 5]. a 1976 A. Christie Autobiogr. (1977) v. ii. 239 Half our patients seemed to be trench feet cases. 1982 Times 31 May 5/3 There have been cases of exposure and trench foot. |
| 1903 O. Causton in Cornh. Mag. Feb. 202 The long white *trench-graves on the summit move one more, perhaps, than any others in South Africa. |
| 1849 J. Grant Kirkaldy of Gr. xxviii, He drove the *trench-guards down the Lawn⁓market in disorder. |
| 1914 War Illustr. 19 Dec. 416/1 He inspected their *trench kit of goatskins and strawbags. |
| 1900 Westm. Gaz. 19 Jan. 2/1 The *trench kitchen is more generally used in South Africa. |
| 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. |
| 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 of R. Kipling vii. 298 What he [sc. Kipling] saw of trench life..horrified him. |
| 1918 G. Frankau Judgement of Valhalla 18 Downwards, and on, where *trench-lights shone—For we, we might not rest. |
| 1908 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 502/1 A treble tier of *trench lines. |
| 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1133/2 Edward Chamberleine esquier capteine of the pioners, sir Richard Leigh *trenchmaster. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 148 Captain Josias Bodley, Trench-Master. |
| 1915 D. O. Barnett Let. 19 May 143 In the afternoon we had a *trench-mortar duel with the Allymans. 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. |
| 1920 Chambers's Jrnl. 20 Mar. 254/1 He shelled it; he *trench-mortared it, he raided it. |
| 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. |
| 1915 Morning Post 11 Feb. 3/5 The Adams *trenchoscope is the latest periscope for use in the trenches. |
| 1915 *Trench-periscope [see hyposcope s.v. hypo- II]. |
| 1830 Planting 35 (Libr. Usef. Knowl.) Slit-planting..holing or pitting..*trench-planting..furrow-planting. 1905 Terms Forestry (U.S. Dep. Agric., Bulletin lxi.), Trench planting, a method of planting on dry ground, in which the seeds or young trees are set in trenches. Syn.: pit planting. |
| 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. 1974 A. Price Other Paths to Glory ii. viii. 213 It's a sawn-off Lee Enfield... Used for *trench raiding... The trench rifle had been Jarras's newest toy. |
| 1916 G. Frankau 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. |
| 1974 *Trench rifle [see trench raiding above]. |
| 1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms 629 *Trenchscope, a simple periscope, used in the trenches (permitting a safe view to the front), consisting of parallel mirrors in a long wooden box, both set 45° to the long axis of the box. |
| 1755 Mem. Capt. P. Drake 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. |
| 1915 Kipling France at War v. 55 One understood after a while the nightmare that lays hold of *trench-stale men. |
| 1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Oct. 822/1 The squadron was required to assist the hard-pressed infantry by..‘*trench strafing’. |
| 1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms 629 *Trench system, all the field-works included in a defense zone. 1923 Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War I. 227 Some half-wiped-out German trench-systems. 1975 P. Fussell Gt. War & Mod. Memory ii. 36 From the winter of 1914 until the spring of 1918 the trench system was fixed. |
| 1923 Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War II. 143 There are certain analogies between *trench-to-trench attack and ‘soccer’. |
| Ibid. I. 20 The *trench-war was solidifying itself. |
| 1918 F. M. Ford Let. 6 Jan. (1965) 86, I could do a very good one [novel] about *trench warfare. 1973 Times 7 Dec. 18/3 In industry we have had continuing trench warfare deriving from low pay, and authoritarian and remote management. 1978 F. Maclean Take Nine Spies iv. 125 He had fought at Dixemude..before settling down later that winter [in 1914] to the horrors of trench warfare. 1980 R. Barnard Death in Cold Climate vii. 69 Sterile trench-warfare with colleagues over matters of principle. |
| 1884 Mil. Engineering (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. |
Add:
[4.] c. Joinery. A part of a joint in the form of a long, narrow slot cut across the grain of the wood.
| 1939 R. Greenhalgh Joinery & Carpentry (ed. 2) VI. xxix. 307 Trench, a long narrow housing, as for the end of a shelf. 1959 Hampton & 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 Practical 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. trench, v. (
trɛn(t)ʃ)
Forms: see the
n. [a. OF. trenchier (11th c. in Godef. Compl.), F. trancher to cut, hew, slice, etc. = Prov. trencar, trinquar, Catal. trencar, Sp., Pg. trincar; cf. It. trinciare. These Romanic forms are held to represent a popular L. *trincāre, altered from L. truncāre to cut or lop off, f. truncus the trunk of a tree: cf. truncheon. Our sense 1 is directly from OF. Senses 3–5 are either immediately from trench n. or largely influenced by it. Senses 6–8 are not in French; they prob. arose as figures from the action of extending military trenches so as to reach or touch the place besieged.] I. To cut, make a cutting.
1. trans. 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.| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 104 b/2 Thomas is as moche to saye as..double or trenchyd and heuen. 1485 ― Chas. Gt. ii. x. 63 [He] gaf hym a stroke vpon his helme so sharply that he trenched moo than vc maylles. c 1510 Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) B j, Though the toth [of a serpent] trencheth, the tayle beareth poyson. 1513 Douglas æneis vi. iv. 32 Enee hym self..to the, Proserpyne, A ȝeld kow all to trynschit. c 1520 Barclay Jugurth (1557) 9 To bringe vnto him the heed of Hiempsal trenched from the body. 1725 Pope Odyss. x. 615 Draw thy falchion, and on every side Trench the black earth a cubit long and wide. 1856 Bryant Two Graves 43 Trench the strong hard mould with the spade. 1867 Froude Short Stud. (ed. 2) 167 They are trenching their way thro' the weak place in the Pentateuch. |
† b. To cut or carve
in or
into a surface.
Obs.| 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iii. ii. 7 This weake impresse of Loue, is as a figure Trenched in ice. 1665 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 148 Inscriptions cut or trencht in one of the Stones. Ibid. 150 Those..had Epigraphs trencht into the Craggs. |
† c. To make (a cut, gash, or wound)
in or
into something.
Obs. rare.
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 1052 The wide wound, that the boare had trencht In his soft flanke. 1610 Fletcher Faithf. Sheph. iv. ii, The wound by cruel knife Trencht into him. |
2. To cut or make a cutting through a ridge or raised surface. The object of the
vb. may be (
a) the cutting made, (
b) the ridge or surface cut through.
| 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 50 For the ease of pilgrims..iournieng between Cair and Mecha, she began to trench a water course alongst the way. 1865 Geikie Scen. & Geol. Scot. ix. 238 The ridge is deeply trenched with gullies and narrow glens. Ibid. 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. fig. (with the surface cut or furrowed as
obj.)
| 1624 Quarles Job xi. 50 Thy Hand hath trencht my cheekes with water-furrowes. 1787 Burns To Haggis iii, His knife see rustic Labour dight,..Trenching your gushing entrails bright, Like ony ditch. 1840 R. H. Horne Gregory VII, iv. i, Oft have I marked a deep awe trench his face. 1868 Nettleship Browning iii. 95 A mouth..trenched on either side by early pronounced lines. |
c. Naut. to trench the ballast: see
quots.| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. vii. 33 To finde a leake, they trench the Ballast, that is, to diuide it. 1867 Smyth 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.
| [Cf. 1830 Gardens & Menag. 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.] |
| 1822–34 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. |
II. From
trench n.; to do something to, with, or by a trench.
3. To cut a trench or trenches in (the ground).
| 1530 Palsgr. 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 Archæol. Cantiana VIII. 8 We subsequently trenched the surface of the platform. |
b. spec. in
Agric. and
Hort. 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.| 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 83 Thy garden plot latelie well trenched and muckt. 1649 in Archæologia X. 432 A musk⁓milion ground trenched, manured, and very well ordered. 1763 Mills Pract. Husb. IV. 68 This may..be prevented by..trenching the ground up in ridges. 1793 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) V. 11, I trenched up the whole to the depth of eighteen inches. 1798 Nicol Scotch Forcing Gard. (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 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. Mod. The garden ought to be trenched. |
c. intr. or absol. To dig a trench or trenches.
| 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. Ibid., When trenching..use half decayed manure. |
† d. intr. Of a torrent: To cut its way.
Obs.| 1613–16 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. i, As all the floods (Down trenching from small groves and greater woods) The vast insatiate Sea doth still devoure. |
4. trans. To furnish with, set, or place in a trench.
† a. To divert (a river) by means of a trench.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 112 A little Charge will trench him [the Trent] here, And on this North side winne this Cape of Land, And then he runnes straight and euen. |
b. To set or plant in a trench.
| 1678 R. L'Estrange Seneca's Mor., Epist. ix. (1696) 515 This would not have been..if you had Trenched them and Water'd them. Mod. Celery is usually trenched. |
c. To bury in a trench.
| 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.
| 1811 T. Davis Agric. Wilts App. 261 Trenching or Guttering Land, draining it with open drains. 1875 [implied in trencher2 2]. |
5. Mil. 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, ?
obs.).
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V 65 b, The Frenchmen diched, trenched and paled their lodgynges for feare of after clappes. Ibid., Hen. VI 165 b, The place which they had trenched, dytched, and fortefied with ordenaunce. Ibid., Edw. IV 220 b, The duke of Somerset..trenched his campe rounde about of suche an altitude, and so strongly. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 677 Bands Of Pioners with Spade and Pickaxe arm'd Forerun the Royal Camp, to trench a Field, Or cast a Rampart. 1715–20 Pope Iliad xx. 175 A mound Of earth congested, wall'd, and trench'd around. 1827 Keble Chr. Y., 10th Sund. Trin. v, Now foes shall trench thee round, And lay thee even with earth. 1899 [see trenched below]. |
b. fig. To entrench.
| 1601 ? Marston Pasquil & Kath. i. 113 Trench your selfe within the peoples loue. 1624 Gee Foot out of Snare 46 Trenching themselues in the Mines of their Labyrinths at home, or masking in their gold and siluer abroad. 1624 Massinger Renegado ii. iv, A hermit in a desert, trenched with prayers. 1759 Mason Caractacus 52, I spy'd their helms 'Mid brakes and boughs trench'd in the heath below. 1838 Chalmers Wks. XII. 81 One who..was..trenched among what he thought the speculations of orthodoxy. |
† c. intr. To cast trenches, in siege works; in
quot. 1623, to make one's way by trenching (
fig.).
to trench at: to lay siege to by means of trenches.
| 1582–8 Hist. Jas. VI (1804) 231 The pyoneris hade trinchett in the castell hill of Edinburgh, and erectit a braid sconce to hyde thame. 1623 B. Jonson Time Vind. Wks. (Rtldg.) 636/1 The boy with buttons, and the basket-wench, To vent their wares into my works do trench! 1742 Young Nt. Th. vi. 21 Like pow'rful armies trenching at a town, By slow, and silent, but resistless sap. |
III. † 6. intr. to trench to (
trench unto): To extend in effect to; to extend so as to affect or touch. (
Cf. touch v. 20.)
Obs.| 1612 Bacon Ess., Judicature (Arb.) 458 The thing deduced to Iudgement, may bee meum et tuum, when the reason and consequence thereof may trench to point of estate. a 1625 Sir 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 Coke On Litt. 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. |
† b. intr. To extend or stretch (to a distance or in some direction); to trend.
Obs. rare.
| 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton viii. (1840) 133 The land trenched away to the west. 1775 Romans 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. Ibid. 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 (
trench unto): To ‘cut’ into, to enter into so as to affect or concern intimately.
Obs.| 1621 H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 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 Subject 91 A thing which trencheth as deeply into the privat interest of the Subject as the laying of Impositions. |
b. to trench on or
trench upon: To encroach or infringe (however slightly)
on or
upon a region which is the domain of another.
† to trench too near,
trench too nigh,
= to come dangerously near infringing upon (
obs.).
| 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 15 The King..being desirous to know, if any man of worth had presumed so farre to trench vpon what he had done. 1627 E. F. Hist. Edw. II (1680) 59 Nor may you trench too near your Soveraigns actions. 1629 N. Carpenter Achitophel ii. (1640) 78 [It] seems to me to trench too farre on Gods Prerogative. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xl. 98 They would not allow their secular affairs to trench too nigh that days devotion. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Rich. II ccc, But least my running Tent may Trench vpon Another's feild, I fixe my Pole downe here. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 553 This scheme..may seem to trench on the liberty of individuals. 1865 Merivale Rom. Emp. 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 xiii, 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).
| 1635 Heylin Sabbath i. (1636) 190 Some..have trenched too neere upon the Rabbins, in binding men to nice and scrupulous observances. a 1639 W. Whately Prototypes iii. xxxix. (1640) 24 He did trench a little too neare upon an untruth. 1643 Baker Chron., Hen. VI 5 Knowing how far they trenched upon the Dukes destruction, and her own. 1691 Case of Exeter Coll. Pref. A ij b, Insignificant suggestions that trench nothing at all on the merits of the Cause. 1746 Fielding True Patriot No. 23 They hold them [other persons and things] of no consequence,..unless they trench somewhat towards their own order or calling. 1841 D'Israeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 355 Some unlucky jest, trenching on treason, flew from the lips of the unguarded jester. 1876 C. M. Davies Unorth. Lond. 20 The opinions of this school—where they trench most closely on orthodoxy. |
† d. trans. To trench or encroach upon.
Obs.| 1626 B. Jonson Staple of N. v. vi, Who did? I? I trench the liberty o' the subiects? |
Hence
ˈtrenched,
ˈtrenching ppl. adjs.| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. xi. (Arb.) 107 With sharpe Trenching blade of bright steele. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. i. 7 No more shall trenching Warre channell her fields. 1605 ― Macb. iii. iv. 27 Safe in a ditch he bides, With twenty trenched gashes on his head. 1763 Mills Pract. Husb. 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. |