trenches
Long narrow ditches
Trenches are long, narrow ditches dug into the ground.
They serve various purposes: drainage channels in fields, excavations for laying pipes or cables, or defensive positions in warfare.
The phrase in the trenches derives from World War I's brutal trench warfare and now refers to anyone doing difficult, hands-on work at the front lines of any endeavor: She's been in the trenches with this project for months.
To trench is to dig such a ditch.
Franco-Belgian combat zone
- No Man's LandDisputed territory between opposing forces
- SommeFrench river, WWI battlefield
- VerdunWWI battleground city
- YpresFlemish city, wartime ruins
Gallipoli · doughboys · tommies · armistice · stalemate · attrition · mustard gas · barbed wire
Obstacle blocking a path
- rampartFortified defensive wall
- parapetLow wall at edge
- bunkerReinforced subterranean stronghold
- foxholeMilitary defensive excavation
dugout · earthworks · embankment · revetment · breastwork · redoubt · stronghold · defensive line
Shallow excavated channel
- channelPassage for transmission
- furrowNarrow trench in earth
- troughOpen container for animal feed
- grooveNarrow cut or routine
gutter · drainage · irrigation · utility · pipeline · conduit · culvert · foundation
Act of unearthing
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- sedimentsParticles that settle below
- featuresDistinctive qualities or aspects
postholes · trowel · sifting · grid squares · context · finds · cross-section · baulk
Combat's forward edge
- boots on groundSoldiers in combat zone
- daily grindWearisome regular routine
- grassrootsCommon people as political base
- hands-onInvolving direct physical engagement
field work · real world · coalface · sharp end · ground level · day-to-day · practical experience
Western Front
Franco-Belgian combat zone
- No Man's LandDisputed territory between opposing forces
- SommeFrench river, WWI battlefield
- VerdunWWI battleground city
Ypres · Gallipoli · doughboys · tommies · armistice · stalemate · attrition · mustard gas · barbed wire · machine gun
barricade
Obstacle blocking a path
foxhole · dugout · earthworks · embankment · revetment · breastwork · redoubt · stronghold · defensive line · sandbags
ditch
Shallow excavated channel
groove · gutter · drainage · irrigation · utility · pipeline · conduit · culvert · foundation · footing
excavation
Act of unearthing
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- sedimentsParticles that settle below
features · postholes · trowel · sifting · grid squares · context · finds · cross-section · baulk · datum
frontlines
Combat's forward edge
- boots on groundSoldiers in combat zone
- daily grindWearisome regular routine
- grassrootsCommon people as political base
hands-on · field work · real world · coalface · sharp end · ground level · day-to-day · practical experience
- combat idiomsstab in the back, dodge a bullet, in the crosshairs, fire away, take a shot
- fortificationsfort, fortress, fortresses, citadel, citadels
- WWI militaryANZAC, Tommies, Western Front, Eastern Front, no man's land
- American WWIdoughboys, General Pershing, Argonne, Western Front, over there
- ANZAC historyANZAC, ANZAC Day, Gallipoli, Gallipoli campaign, dawn service
- battlefieldsGettysburg, Waterloo, front lines, Antietam, frontline
trenchesridges
Narrow elevated formations
peaks · mounds · hills · embankments · berms
trenchesno man's land
Unowned space between enemies
open field · open ground · above ground · cavalry charges · blitzkrieg
- trench coatBelted, double-breasted raincoat
- in the trenchesEngaged in direct struggle
- trench warfareCombat from fortified ditches
- ocean trenchesDeepest seafloor depressions
- ocean trench
- trench footTissue damage from wetness
trench, entrenched, entrench, retrenchment, entrenchment, trenched, entrenching, trenching, trencher