n. [ OE. trenche, F. tranchée. See Trench, v. t. ] 1. A long, narrow cut in the earth; a ditch; as, a trench for draining land. Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An alley; a narrow path or walk cut through woods, shrubbery, or the like. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

In a trench, forth in the park, goeth she. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Fort.) An excavation made during a siege, for the purpose of covering the troops as they advance toward the besieged place. The term includes the parallels and the approaches. [ 1913 Webster ]

To open the trenches (Mil.), to begin to dig or to form the lines of approach. --
Trench cavalier (Fort.), an elevation constructed (by a besieger) of gabions, fascines, earth, and the like, about half way up the glacis, in order to discover and enfilade the covered way. --
Trench plow, or
Trench plough, a kind of plow for opening land to a greater depth than that of common furrows. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Trenched p. pr. & vb. n. Trenching. ] [ OF. trenchier to cut, F. trancher; akin to Pr. trencar, trenchar, Sp. trinchar, It. trinciare; of uncertain origin. ] 1. To cut; to form or shape by cutting; to make by incision, hewing, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wide wound that the boar had trenched
In his soft flank. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

This weak impress of love is as a figure
Trenched in ice, which with an hour's heat
Dissolves to water, and doth lose its form. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Fort.) To fortify by cutting a ditch, and raising a rampart or breastwork with the earth thrown out of the ditch; to intrench. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

No more shall trenching war channel her fields. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To cut furrows or ditches in; as, to trench land for the purpose of draining it. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To dig or cultivate very deeply, usually by digging parallel contiguous trenches in succession, filling each from the next; as, to trench a garden for certain crops. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To encroach; to intrench. [ 1913 Webster ]

Does it not seem as if for a creature to challenge to itself a boundless attribute, were to trench upon the prerogative of the divine nature? I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To have direction; to aim or tend. [ R. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

To trench at, to make trenches against; to approach by trenches, as a town in besieging it. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Like powerful armies, trenching at a town
By slow and silent, but resistless, sap. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Trenchant. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OF. trenchant, F. tranchant, p. pr. See Trench, v. t. ] 1. Fitted to trench or cut; gutting; sharp. “ Trenchant was the blade.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: Keen; biting; severe; as, trenchant wit. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a trenchant, or sharp, manner; sharply; severely. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. trencheoir, F. tranchoir, fr. trancher to cut, carve. See Trench, v. t. ] 1. One who trenches; esp., one who cuts or digs ditches. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A large wooden plate or platter, as for table use. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The table; hence, the pleasures of the table; food. [ 1913 Webster ]

It could be no ordinary declension of nature that could bring some men, after an ingenuous education, to place their “summum bonum” upon their trenchers. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

Trencher cap, the cap worn by studens at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, having a stiff, flat, square appendage at top. A similar cap used in the United States is called Oxford cap, mortar board, etc. --
Trencher fly, a person who haunts the tables of others; a parasite. [ R. ] L'Estrange. --
Trencher friend, one who frequents the tables of others; a sponger. --
Trencher mate, a table companion; a parasite; a trencher fly. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Trencher-men [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A feeder; a great eater; a gormandizer. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A cook. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The skillfulest trencher-men of Media. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A table companion; a trencher mate. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A kind of lively dance of a rude, boisterous character. Also, music in triple time appropriate to the dance. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

All the windows in the town dance new trenchmore. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To dance the trenchmore. [ Obs. ] Marston. [ 1913 Webster ]