TRENCHER

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does trencher mean? 

• TRENCHER (noun)
  The noun TRENCHER has 2 senses:

1. someone who digs trenches

2. a wooden board or platter on which food is served or carved

  Familiarity information: TRENCHER used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TRENCHER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who digs trenches

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("trencher" is a kind of...):

digger (a laborer who digs)

Derivation:

trench (dig a trench or trenches)

trench (cut a trench in, as for drainage)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A wooden board or platter on which food is served or carved

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("trencher" is a kind of...):

board (a flat piece of material designed for a special purpose)

Derivation:

trench (cut or carve deeply into)

 Context examples 

I have seen him do the summerset several times together, upon a trencher fixed on a rope which is no thicker than a common packthread in England.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The wife minced a bit of meat, then crumbled some bread on a trencher, and placed it before me.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Then the master made me a sign to come to his trencher side; but as I walked on the table, being in great surprise all the time, as the indulgent reader will easily conceive and excuse, I happened to stumble against a crust, and fell flat on my face, but received no hurt.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

That which gave me most uneasiness among these maids of honour (when my nurse carried me to visit then) was, to see them use me without any manner of ceremony, like a creature who had no sort of consequence: for they would strip themselves to the skin, and put on their smocks in my presence, while I was placed on their toilet, directly before their naked bodies, which I am sure to me was very far from being a tempting sight, or from giving me any other emotions than those of horror and disgust: their skins appeared so coarse and uneven, so variously coloured, when I saw them near, with a mole here and there as broad as a trencher, and hairs hanging from it thicker than packthreads, to say nothing farther concerning the rest of their persons.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)