trench warfare
2
6.5
- noun
- /trɛnʧ ˈwɔrˌfɛr/
- Specialized
:
guerra de trincheras
- Vandewalle's protégé is Kristof Jacobs, a boyish local architect whose grandfather was a veteran of trench warfare on the Western Front.
And thousands to hundreds of thousands of young men essentially are dying in trench warfare.
- And thousands to hundreds of thousands of young men essentially are dying in trench warfare.
- The nature of trench warfare in the Great War limited the ways armies could move and act.
- I only watch long form documentaries about like the in depth trench warfare strategies of World War One on an evening time like a night fall asleep.
Examples
-
Although the horror of trench warfare was changing how people imagined the adventure-war-hero, the transformation was incomplete during the war.
Academic text (2002) -
France, still traumatized by the horror of trench warfare fought in France during World War I, and now menaced by the prospect of a fascist military threat on three borders, was paralyzed by domestic political squabbles.
Academic text (2005) -
The nature of trench warfare in the Great War limited the ways armies could move and act.
-
This is the middle of the Spotsylvania campaign, arguably the worst constant daily trench warfare of the Civil War.
-
Nonetheless, the crushing blow through Belgium stalled before Paris and soon developed into trench warfare.
Blog text (32) -
Another distinguishing and severe feature of World War One was trench warfare, in which soldiers lived their lives in a world of mud, death, and despair.
-
Within a few months of the start of hostilities, all of the Western Front was caught in a stalemate, as the dreaded "trench warfare" soon took over the battlefield.
Blog text (9) -
Soldiers of this horrific trench warfare experienced prolonged exposure to constant threats against their own lives, while also often witnessing the mutilation and deaths of their friends and comrades.
Academic text (2012) -
During World War I, soldiers fought in trench warfare, facing each other from fortified positions dug into the ground.
-
The documentary explores the harsh realities of trench warfare, revealing how soldiers endured mud, extreme conditions, and constant danger.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound literally combines 'trench' (a defensive ditch) and 'warfare' (fighting), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to fighting conducted from trenches. However, the frequent figurative meaning — a prolonged, deadlocked struggle — depends on historical/cultural knowledge about the immobility of trench fighting and is not fully predictable for a B1 learner, so the transparency is partial.
Etymology
Trench warfare comes from soldiers digging long, deep ditches called trenches and fighting from them while the enemy did the same on the other side. So, the phrase refers to fighting from dug positions and the hard, often slow battles that happen there.