slit trench
- noun
- /slɪt trɛnʧ/
- Specialized
:
trinchera
- As he neared the edge of the tarmac, again he went down, tripped this time by a pothole, and the Florida shirt bent over him and, half-dragging, half-lifting, pulled him into the safety of a slit trench.
- dig a slit trench
Examples
-
You take those two and make a dash for the slit trench.
-
Let's hit the slit trenches.
-
He could not bear to see it crash, so he ducked into his slit trench.
Academic text (2003) -
During the battle, soldiers dove into the slit trench to seek shelter from enemy fire.
-
As the air raid sirens blared, they quickly scrambled to the nearest slit trench for protection.
-
The commander instructed the troops to take cover in the slit trench until the air raid was over.
Synonyms
44
3.8
A long narrow ditch in the ground used for drainage or protection
31
6.2
A small hole dug in the ground for a soldier to hide in during battle
How Deep
4
6.0
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a narrow excavation used as a shelter' is directly derivable from combining 'slit' (a long, narrow opening) with 'trench' (a long, narrow ditch); 'slit' simply qualifies the kind of trench. This compositional modifier+noun pattern is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand the phrase.
Etymology
Slit trench comes from the simple picture of a very narrow cut, slit, and a long dug hole, trench, in the ground where soldiers would quickly lie down to hide from enemy fire. That's why it means 'a narrow excavation used as a shelter'.