trench

Everyday

1. A trench is a long, narrow, deep ditch dug in the ground, for pipes, drains or building foundations. tree →
2. In war, trenches are long ditches that soldiers dig and live in to protect themselves from enemy fire, especially in the First World War. tree →
3. An ocean trench is a very deep, long valley in the sea floor, like the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth. tree →
4. A trench coat is a long, belted raincoat. tree →

In the lessons

In history lessons trenches are studied with the First World War: soldiers lived in muddy, wet, rat-filled trenches, with «no man's land» between the two sides; diseases like «trench foot» came from wet feet. In geography and science, the Mariana Trench in the Pacific is about 11 km deep, deeper than Mount Everest is tall. Today soldiers in Ukraine also fight from trenches. Phrases: «trench warfare», «in the trenches», «trench foot», «ocean trench».

Examples

• Workers dug a trench to lay the new water pipe. tree →
• Soldiers in the trenches wrote letters home. tree →
• The trenches were full of mud and rats. tree →
• The Mariana Trench is the deepest place in the ocean. tree →
• Trench foot was caused by standing in cold water for days. tree →
• Detectives in old films wear trench coats. tree →
• Between the trenches was a deadly strip called no man's land. tree →

Note

Plural «trenches» (add -es after ch). «In the trenches» can also mean (informal) doing the hard, everyday part of a job. Trap: a trench is long and narrow; a pit or hole can be any shape.

In Jewish tradition

A ditch. Elijah dug one round the altar and filled it with water, and in another story a valley is filled with trenches to hold water.

Interpretation. Elijah's trench of water makes the miracle clearer, since God's fire burns up even the water. Tradition reads it as proof that the LORD alone is God.

Examples

• And he said: 'Thus saith the LORD: Make this valley full of trenches. (Prophets 2KI.3.16, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. (Prophets 1KI.18.35, JPS 1917) tree →
• Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. (Prophets 1KI.18.38, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Plural «trenches» (add -es after ch). «In the trenches» can also mean (informal) doing the hard, everyday part of a job. Trap: a trench is long and narrow; a pit or hole can be any shape.