trench

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A deep furrow or ditch.
2. n. A long narrow ditch embanked with its own soil and used for concealment and protection in warfare.
3. n. A long, steep-sided valley on the ocean floor.
4. v. To cut a trench in.
5. v. To fortify with trenches.
6. v. To place in a trench.
7. v. To make a cut in; carve.
8. v. To dig trenches or a trench.
9. v. To verge or encroach. Often used with on or upon.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To cut, as a notch, hole, mark, etc.; form by cutting; carve; incise.
2. To cut into; form a ditch, trench, or other linear depression in: as, to trench the ground round a camp or a fort.
3. In agriculture, to furrow deeply, especially with the spade; dig deeply and turn over thoroughly by means of a succession of contiguous trenches.
4. In cabinet-making and the like, to work with a long continuous groove, as a rail which is to be fitted upon the heads of a series of bars or balusters.
5. To cut; slash.
6. Specifically, to form a trench or trenches; proceed by or as if by means of trenches.
7. To encroach; infringe; obtrude as if by cutting into something: used of conduct, expression, or the like, usually with on or upon: as, to trench upon another's rights. Also intrench.
8. To reach out; extend; tend.
9. Synonyms Encroach upon, Infringe, etc. See trespass.
10. n. A narrow excavation of considerable length cut into the earth; a deep furrow or ditch. In agriculture trenches are made for drainage, for loosening the soil deeply, for certain kinds of planting, etc. In military operations trenches constitute the parallels or approaches used for the shelter of besieging troops, as before a fortified place, or for protection and defense, as in an intrenched camp. If the ground is hard or rocky, trenches are raised above it with fascines, bags of earth, etc.; but if the earth can be easily dug, then a ditch or way is sunk, and edged with a parapet, next to the enemy, formed by the earth thrown out of the ditch. The depth of the trench, form of the parapet, etc., vary according to the purpose or occasion.
11. n. A lane or road cut through shrubbery or woods.

Wiktionary

1. n. A long, narrow ditch or hole dug in the ground, especially in warfare.
2. n. archaeology A pit, usually rectangular with smooth walls and floor, excavated during an archaeological investigation.
3. n. informal A trench coat.
4. v. To invade, especially with regard to the rights or the exclusive authority of another.
5. v. military, infantry To excavate an elongated pit for protection of soldiers and or equipment, usually perpendicular to the line of sight toward the enemy.
6. v. archaeology To excavate an elongated and often narrow pit.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To cut; to form or shape by cutting; to make by incision, hewing, or the like.
2. v. (Fort.) To fortify by cutting a ditch, and raising a rampart or breastwork with the earth thrown out of the ditch; to intrench.
3. v. To cut furrows or ditches in.
4. v. To dig or cultivate very deeply, usually by digging parallel contiguous trenches in succession, filling each from the next.
5. v. To encroach; to intrench.
6. v. rare To have direction; to aim or tend.
7. n. A long, narrow cut in the earth; a ditch.
8. n. obsolete An alley; a narrow path or walk cut through woods, shrubbery, or the like.
9. n. (Fort.) An excavation made during a siege, for the purpose of covering the troops as they advance toward the besieged place. The term includes the parallels and the approaches.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. cut a trench in, as for drainage
2. n. a long steep-sided depression in the ocean floor
3. v. cut or carve deeply into
4. v. impinge or infringe upon
5. v. dig a trench or trenches
6. v. fortify by surrounding with trenches
7. n. a ditch dug as a fortification having a parapet of the excavated earth
8. v. set, plant, or bury in a trench
9. n. any long ditch cut in the ground