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Glite Dictionary
to dig a trench

to dig a trench

2 3.5
To make a long narrow hole in the ground for pipes or to carry water away
  • phrasal verb
  • /dɪɡ ə trɛnʧ/
translation icon : cavar una zanja
  • A week or so later, I set the box in place and wandered to the edge of my garden and began digging a trench for the landscape timbers that I bought earlier that day.
  • dug a trench 7 feet deep
  • dug a trench 3 feet

He has to dig a trench, which then he fills with blood.

Examples

  • One task I participated in involved each household digging a trench ten meters long, one meter deep, and half a meter wide.

    Academic text (2017)

  • You can dig a trench, but if it doesn't actually divert the river, you won't get any water to where you're trying to get it to go.

    Blog text (14)

  • We'll have to dig a trench from the door just to get at it.

    Rogue Saints (2012)

  • I need you to dig a trench in my crawl space to lay some pipes.

    Gacy (2003)

  • They started by digging a trench two feet deep in the designated area.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Then I went out into the yard to dig a trench with a miniature shovel.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • And we dig a trench so that we can bury things like straw or grass clippings or mulched up leaves.

  • When Weppler's team began digging a trench in the courtyard to install a modern plumbing system, one of his workers uncovered an old stone terrace.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Without installing controlled drainage, he cuts nitrate loss by two-thirds by digging a trench alongside existing pipes and filling it with wood chips.

    Academic text (2005)

  • We need to dig a trench to install the new drainage system in the backyard.

Synonyms

to shovel
vsto dig a trench
85 1.0

To move or dig material with a wide blade and handle

is about creating a long narrow ground cut rather than the tool or motion
to excavate
vsto dig a trench
10 6.0

To make a hole by removing earth or rock

is limited to making long narrow ground openings rather than broad holes
to trench
vsto dig a trench
2 4.6

To dig a long narrow ditch in the ground for drainage or pipes

is focused on long narrow excavations mainly for drainage, irrigation, or construction

How Deep

to excavate
10 6.0
to dig a trench
2 3.5
to ditch
2 3.4
to scratch
161 1.1

Surface Forms

dig a trench infinitive
digging a trench present participle
digs a trench third person singular
dug a trench past
dug a trench past participle

Morphology

dig + a + trench

The meaning is directly compositional: 'dig' (to remove/move earth) combined with 'trench' (a long narrow ditch) yields 'to make a long, narrow excavation'. The indefinite article 'a' is semantically neutral, and this construction follows a transparent verb + noun pattern common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand it.

Etymology

Dig a trench is a very literal phrase: to dig means to use a shovel and a trench is a long, narrow hole in the ground. Imagine workers walking along and making a straight line for water or pipes, and so the phrase means 'to make a long, narrow excavation'.