trench

trench

trench, a linear feature in the ocean where the depth exceeds 6,000 metres (19,700 ft). Trenches occur along the active margins of oceans where the oceanic crust is sliding under continental land masses or island arcs. They are highly active seismically; one of the most violent earthquakes ever recorded was associated with a trench off Chile. The active margin of the Pacific Ocean is known as the ‘Ring of Fire’; ocean crust is sliding under the continents at a rate of 6 centimetres (2.4 in.) a year. Onshore a great chain of volcanoes stretches from the Philippines, along Japan, Kamchatka, the Aleutian Islands, and then down the full length of the west coast of the Americas. Offshore lies a series of trenches. The older the ocean crust, the deeper the trench, because the crust is colder and stiffer. The deepest of all is the Marianas Trench. Scientists aboard HMS Challenger were the first to try and plumb it, and in 1960 the bathyscaphe Trieste made the deepest manned descent of it. It was remeasured in 2001 and was found to be 10,926 metres (35,838 ft) deep. The seabed of each trench is inhabited by a unique community of animals, but their remoteness means that their faunas remain poorly known. See also geological oceanography.

www.geocities.com/thesciencefiles/marianas/trench.html

M. V. Angel

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"trench." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"trench." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-trench.html

"trench." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-trench.html

Learn more about citation styles

trench

trench / trench/ • n. a long, narrow ditch. ∎  such a ditch dug by troops to provide a place of shelter from enemy fire. ∎  (trenches) a connected system of such ditches forming an army's line. ∎  (the trenches) the battlefields of northern France and Belgium in World War I: the slaughter in the trenches created a new cynicism | fig. entry-level teachers are taught the latest classroom techniques by colleagues with experience in the trenches. ∎  (also ocean trench) a long, narrow, deep depression in the ocean floor, typically one running parallel to a plate boundary and marking a subduction zone. • v. 1. [tr.] dig a trench or trenches in (the ground): she trenched the terrace to a depth of 6 feet. ∎  turn over the earth of (a field or garden) by digging a succession of adjoining ditches. 2. [intr.] (trench on/upon) archaic border closely on; encroach upon: this would surely trench very far on the dignity and liberty of citizens.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"trench." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"trench." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-trench.html

"trench." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-trench.html

Learn more about citation styles

trench

trench a ditch dug by troops to provide a place of shelter from enemy fire, often as part of a connected system of such ditches forming an army's line; the trenches is the term used for the battlefields of northern France and Belgium in the First World War.
trench fever a highly contagious rickettsial disease transmitted by lice, that infested soldiers in the trenches in the First World War.
trench foot a painful condition of the feet caused by long immersion in cold water or mud and marked by blackening and death of surface tissue, often suffered by soldiers in the trenches in the First World War.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "trench." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "trench." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-trench.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "trench." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-trench.html

Learn more about citation styles

trench

trench (oceanic trench) An elongate depression of the ocean floor which runs parallel to the trend of adjacent volcanic islands (island arc) or continent. Oceanic trenches are up to 11 km deep, typically 50–100km wide, and may be thousands of kilometres long. In cross-section the trench slopes are usually asymmetric, with a steeper slope on the landward side. Most trenches are associated with subduction zones.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "trench." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "trench." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-trench.html

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "trench." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-trench.html

Learn more about citation styles

trench

trench n.
1. a long, narrow ditch.

2. such a ditch dug by troops to provide a place of shelter from enemy fire.

3. (trenches) a connected system of such ditches forming an army's line.

4. (the trenches) the battlefields of northern France and Belgium in World War I: the slaughter in the trenches created a new cynicism.
v. dig a trench or trenches in (the ground): the soldiers trenched a long line of defense.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"trench." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"trench." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-trench.html

"trench." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-trench.html

Learn more about citation styles

trench

trench(oceanic trench) An elongate depression of the ocean floor which runs parallel to the adjacent volcanic islands or continent. Oceanic trenches are up to 11 km deep, typically 50–100 km wide, and may be thousands of kilometres long. In cross-section the trench slopes are usually asymmetric, with a steeper slope on the landward side. Most trenches are associated with subduction zones.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

MICHAEL ALLABY. "trench." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MICHAEL ALLABY. "trench." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-trench.html

MICHAEL ALLABY. "trench." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-trench.html

Learn more about citation styles

trench

trench †track cut through a forest XIV; long narrow excavation XV. — OF. trenche cutting, cut, ditch, slice, f. trenchier (mod. trancher) cut (whence trench vb. XV) :- Rom. *trincāre — L. truncāre.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

T. F. HOAD. "trench." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "trench." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-trench.html

T. F. HOAD. "trench." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-trench.html

Learn more about citation styles

trench

trench see ocean .

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"trench." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"trench." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-trench.html

"trench." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-trench.html

Learn more about citation styles

trench

trench •Romansh •blanch, Blanche, branch, ranch, tranche •avalanche •backbench, bench, blench, clench, Dench, drench, entrench, French, frontbench, quench, stench, tench, trench, wench, wrench •crossbench • workbench •cinch, clinch, finch, flinch, inch, lynch, Minch, pinch, squinch, winch •chaffinch • greenfinch • hawfinch •goldfinch • bullfinch •carte blanche, conch •graunch, haunch, launch, paunch, raunch, staunch •brunch, bunch, crunch, hunch, lunch, munch, punch, scrunch •honeybunch • keypunch

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"trench." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"trench." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-trench.html

"trench." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-trench.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Trench safety: becomes major rental niche.(RENTAL UPDATE)
Magazine article from: Underground Construction; 7/1/2006
In the trenches.(Daily Break)
Newspaper article from: The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); 4/4/2007
Trench Safety Is Important.(Culvert Installation & Maintenance...
Magazine article from: Michigan Contractor and Builder; 4/9/2007

Facts and information from other sites

Pictures from Google Image Search

Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture

See more pictures of trench