tremor 
No tremors through her dainty limbs did pass, 
And healthy life alone did paint her cheek. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, III. 115. 
Contortions of the face, and an irregular movement of 
the body and extremities, with tremors of greater or less 
violence. J. M. Carnochan, Operative Surgery, p. 128. 
3. A trembling, quivering, or quavering qual- 
ity or effect: as, a tremor of light. 
To detect, as one or another addressed me, the tremor 
of a voice which, in long-past days, had been wont to bel- 
low through a speaking-trumpet. 
Hawthorne, Scarlet Letter, Int., p. 14. 
Intention tremor, a tremor developed in a part when it 
moves to do something. Mercurial tremor, a tremu- 
lous condition of the system caused by exposure to mer- 
curial vapors; mercurial palsy; the trembles. Neural 
tremors. Sec neural. Purring tremor. Same as purr- 
ing thrill (which see, under punft). = Syn. 2. Trepidation, 
Emotion, etc. (see agitation), quiver, quivering, quaking. 
See trepidation. 
tremorless (trem'or-les), a. [< tremor + -less.'} 
Free from tremor or vibration. 
The plain of the Channel sea stretched flat on either 
hand of me, tremorless as ebony. 
The Portfolio, N. S., No. 1, p. 6. 
The . . . tremorless atmosphere of eternal silence. 
G. Kennan, The Century, XXXV. 766. 
tremulant (trem'u-lant), a. and n. [= It. trem- 
olante, < ML. tremulan(t-)s, ppr. of tremulare, 
tremble: see tremble. Cf. tremulous. ~\ I. a. 
Trembling. 
Hapless De Breze ; doomed to survive long ages, in men's 
memory, in this faint way, with tremulent [read tremulant] 
white rod ! Carlyle, French Rev., I. v. 2. 
II. n. In nmgic, same as tremolo (d). 
tremulation (trera-u-la'shon), n. [< ML. *tremu- 
latio(n-), < tremulare, tremble : see tremulant."] 
A trembling; a tremulous condition. [Bare.] 
I was struck with such a terrible tremulation that it 
was as much as three gulps of my brandy bottle could do 
to put my chill'd blood into its regular motion. 
Turn Brown, Works, II. 236. (Dailies.) 
tremulous (trem'u-lus), a. [= Sp. trtmulo = 
Pg. trenmlo = It. tremulo, tremolo, < L. tremulus, 
shaking, quivering, < tremere, shake, tremble: 
see tremble.'] 1. Trembling; shaking; quiver- 
ing; vibrating; unsteady. 
A sober calm 
Fleeces unbounded ether, whose least wave 
Stands tremulous. Thomson, Autumn, 1. 958. 
Think of honeyed words and tremulous touch 
As things that slay. 
William Morns, Earthly Paradise, II. 333. 
Every fibre is alive with feeling and tremulous with 
radiant thought. Stedman, Viet. Poets, p. 114. 
That old tremulous laugh which was half a cough. 
Mrs. Oliphant, Poor Gentleman, xx. 
2. Lacking firmness, resolution, or courage; 
feeble; wavering; timid. 
The tender tremulous Christian is easily distracted and 
amazed by them. Decay of Christian Piety. 
Those dry, forlorn, tremulous specimens of female mor- 
tality which abound in every village congregation. 
H. B. Stowe, Oldtown, p. 56. 
3. In en torn., finely wavy: as, a tremulous line. 
Tremulous poplar. Same as trembling poplar. See 
poplar. 
tremulously (trem'u-lus-li), ndr. In a tremu- 
lous manner. 
So linger, as from me earth's light withdraws, 
Dear touch of Nature, tremulously bright ! 
Lowell, The Eye's Treasury. 
tremulousness (trem'u-lus-nes), n. The state 
of being tremulous. 
Tremulousness of voice is very effectively used by some 
vocalists in highly pathetic passages. 
//. Spencer, Universal Progress, p. 222. 
trenH, v. t. [ME. trennen, < MD. trennen = OHG. 
MHG. G. trennen, separate, factitive of OHG. 
*trinnan, MHG. trinnen, separate.] To sepa- 
rate. 
Uch toth fram other is trent. Rel. Antiq., II. 212. 
tren 2 t, [Origin not ascertained.] A fish- 
spear. Ainsworth. 
trenail, . A form of treenail. 
trench (trench), v. [< ME. *trenchen, "tranchen, 
traunehen, < OP. trencher, trancher, F. trancher 
= Pr. trencar, trenchar, trinquar = Sp. trinchar, 
chop, trincar, carve, = Pg. trinchar, carve, trin- 
car, crack, break, = It. trinciare, cut, carve, hew, 
slice, Olt. trinceare, trench, trincare, trim ; prob. 
< L. truncare (LL. 'trincare, ML. (after Rom.) 
trencare), cut off, lop: see truncate, trunk, v. 
Hence trench, n., trenchant, intrench, retrench, 
etc.] I. trans. If. To cut, as a notch, hole, 
mark, etc.; form by cutting ; carve; incise. 
Traunche that sturgyon. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 265. 
This weak impress of love is as a figure 
Trenched in ice. Shak., T. 0. of V., iii. 2. 7. 
View the wound, by cruel knife 
Trench'd into him. 
Fletcher, Faithful Shepherdess, iv. 2. 
6458 
2. To cut into; form a ditch, trench, or other 
linear depression in : as, to trench the ground 
round a camp or a fort. 
Pioneers, with spade and pickaxe arm'd, 
Forerun the royal camp, to trench afield, 
Or cast a rampart. Milton, P. L., i. 677. 
And trench the strong, hard mould with the spade, 
Where never before a grave was made. 
Bryant, Two Graves. 
We found that the older trachytic lavas of the hills had 
been deeply trenched by lateral valleys. 
A. Ocikie, Geol. Sketches, x. 
3. In agri., to furrow deeply, especially with 
the spade; dig deeply and turn over thorough- 
ly by means of a succession of contiguous 
trenches. 
In order to expedite the growth of ivy. the ground, pre- 
viously to planting, should be trenched two feet deep. 
Sci. Amer., N. S., LVIII. 264. 
4. In cabinet-making and the like, to work with 
a long continuous groove, as a rail which is to 
be fitted upon the heads of a series of bars or 
balusters. 
II. intrans. 1. To cut; slash. 
Temir the stout 
Rider who with sharpe 
Trenching blade of bright steele 
Hath made his fiercest foes to feele . . . 
The strength of his braue right arme. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie (ed. Arber), p. 107. 
2. Specifically, to form a trench or trenches; 
proceed by or as if by means of trenches. 
An underground passage constructed by trenching down 
from the surface. Encyc. Brit., XXIII. 622. 
3. To encroach; infringe ; obtrude as if by cut- 
ting into something: used of conduct, expres- 
sion, or the like, usually with on or upon : as, 
to trench upon another's rights. Also intrench. 
The boy with buttons, and the basket-wench, 
To vent their wares into my works do trench! 
B. Jonson, Time Vindicated. 
Madam, I am bold 
To trench so far upon your privacy. 
Massinyer, Bashful Lover, i. 1. 
4f. To reach out; extend; tend. 
Many times the things deduced to judgment may be 
" meum "and "tuum," when the reason and consequence 
thereof may trench to point of estate. 
Bacon, Judicature (ed. 1887). 
= Syn. 3. Encroach upon, Infringe, etc. See trespass. 
trench (trench), n. [< ME. trench, trenche, < 
OF. 'trenche, a trench (cf. OF. trenche, tranche, a 
slice, also a pruning-knife) (OF. also trenchee, 
F. tranchee = It. trincea, a trench), < trencher, 
cut: see trench, n.~] 1 . A narrow excavation of 
considerable length cut into the earth; a deep 
furrow or ditch. In agriculture trenches are made for 
drainage, for loosening the soil deeply, for certain kinds 
of planting, etc. In military operations trenches con- 
stitute the parallels or approaches used for the shelter of 
besieging troops, as before a fortified place, or for protec- 
tion and defense, as in an intrenched camp. If the ground 
is hard or rocky, trenches are raised above it with fas- 
cines, bags of earth, etc. ; but if the earth can be easily 
dug, then a ditch or way is sunk, and edged with a para- 
pet, next to the enemy, formed by the earth thrown out of 
the ditch. The depth of the trench, form of the para- 
pet, etc., vary according to the purpose or occasion. 
There is a very strong and great Castle, invironed with 
exceeding deepe trenches and a strong wall. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. ?.. 
2f. A lane or road cut through shrubbery or 
woods. 
And in a trench forth in the park goth she. 
Chaucer, Squire's Tale, L 384. 
Returns of a trench. See returni. Tall of the 
trenches. See taili. To mount the trenches, to 
mount guard in the trenches : usually done at night. To 
open the trenches, to begin to form the lines of approach 
to a fortified place. To scour the trenches, to make 
a sally upon the guard, force them to give way. drive off 
the working party, break down the parapet, fill up the 
trenches, and spike the cannon. Wilhelm, Mil. Encyc. 
trenchancy(tren'chan-si),n. [< trenchan(t) + 
-ey.~] The state or quality of being trenchant ; 
sharpness; keenness; causticity. 
Mrs. Elsmere was old enough to know what importance 
to attach to the trenchancy of eighteen. 
Mrs. Humphry Ward, Robert Elsmere, iv. 
trenchant (tren'chant), a. [< ME. trenchant, 
trenchaunt, < OF. trenchant, F. tranchant, ppr. 
of trencher, cut: see trench, r.] 1. Cutting; 
sharp; keen. 
By his belt he baar a long panade. 
And of a swerd ful trenchant was the blade. 
Chaucer, Reeve's Tale, 1. 10 
Let not the virgin's cheek 
Make soft thy trenchant sword. 
Shak., 1. of A., iv. S. 115. 
2. Penetrating; energetic; downright. 
I too have longed for trenchant force, 
And will like a dividing spear. 
M. Arnold, Switzerland, iv., A Farewell. 
trencher-coat 
Sworn foe of Cant, he smote it down 
With trenchant wit unsparing. 
Whittier, Randolph of Roanoke. 
The . . . sun was warm, and the air was bland, with 
only now and then a trenchant breath from the Alps. 
Howells, Venetian Life, xviii. 
That tre}ichant policy of "reconstruction" which fol- 
lowed close upon the termination of the war. 
W. Wilson, Cong. Gov., i. 
3. Specifically, in zool., sectorial. as a molar 
or premolar; sharp-edged: as, the trenchant 
canines of a saber-toothed tiger. 
trenchantly (tren'chant-li), adv. In a trench- 
ant manner; cuttingly; sharply; keenly. 
trench-cart (trench ' kiirt), w. Milit., a cart 
adapted to pass along the trenches, to dis- 
tribute ammunition and other supplies. It is 
mounted on low wheels so as not to be exposed 
to the enemy's fire. 
trench-cavalier (trench'kav-a-ler*), n. Milit., 
a high parapet of gabions, fascines, earth, etc., 
erected by besiegers upon the glacis to com- 
mand and enfilade the covered way of a for- 
tress. 
trencher 1 (tren'cher), n. [< ME. "trenchour, < 
OF. "trencheor (ML. reflex treticlieator), < trench- 
er, cut : see trench, v. In def . 2 taken as < trench, 
., + -er 1 .] If. One who carves at table; 
also, one who carves at a side-table for the 
company. 
I was not born, I take it, for a trencher, 
Nor to espouse my mistress' dairy-maid. 
Fletcher (and another), Noble Gentleman, iii. 1. 
2. One who cuts or digs trenches; a trench- 
digger or -maker. 
All these works were executed by the soldiers, who 
showed themselves excellent trenchers. 
Comte de Paris, Civil War in America (trans.), I. 397. 
trencher' 2 (tren'cher), n. [< ME. tretichere, 
trenchor, trenchour, < OF. treiichoir, treticheoir, a 
trencher, lit. a cutting-place, < trencher, cut : see 
trench, r.] 1. A wooden plate or platter (origi- 
nally a square piece of board or slice of wood) 
for the table or the kitchen. Trenchers of some form 
were used at table till a late period, at first by all classes 
and afterward by the common people, either to be eaten 
from or for the cutting up of food ; and the number of 
changes of them during a meal in early times was regu- 
lated by personal rank. Trenchers and plates are some- 
times mentioned together in later writings, the food being 
probably served from the former to the latter. 
Thus ye shall serue your souerayne ; laye [six or eight] 
trenchours, & yf he be of a lower degre (or) estate, laye 
fyue trenchours, & yf he he of lower degre, foure trenchours, 
A of an other degre, thre trenchours. 
Babees Book(E. E. T. S.), p. 274. 
We had no napkins nor change of trenchers, and drunk 
out of earthen pitchers and wooden dishes. 
Peptjs, Diary, Oct. 29, 1663. 
To heap the trencher and to fill the caup of an idle 
blackguard ne'er-do-weel. Scott, Pirate, iv. 
2f. A slice of bread used as a platter to lay 
food upon, as thin cakes of bread still are in 
some countries. Such slices of bread were either 
eaten after the meat placed upon them, or, as commonly 
among the rich, thrown into an alms-basket, with other 
leavings, for the poor. 
Loaves at this period [the 14th century] were made of a 
secondary quality of flour, and these were first pared, and 
then cut into thick slices, which were called in French 
tranchoirs, and in English trenchers, because they were to 
be carved upon. Wright, Homes of Other Days, xi. 
3. That which trenchers contain ; food ; hence, 
the pleasures of the table : often used attribu- 
tively. 
Those trencher philosophers which in the later age of 
the Roman state were usually in the houses of great per- 
sons. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, i. 
The trencher fury of a riming parasite. 
Milton, Church-Government, Pref., ii. 
4. Same as trencher-cap Trencher salt-cellar. 
See salt-cellar. 
trencher-breadt (tren'cher-bred), w. [< ME. 
trenchor brede; < trencher 2 + bread 1 .] A kind 
of coarse bread, slices of which were used as 
plates for other food at table. See trencher 2 , 2. 
Item, that the Trenchor Brede be maid of the Meale as 
it cummyth frome the Milne. 
Quoted in Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 125, Index. 
trencher-buffoont (tren'cher-bu-fSn"), n. One 
who amuses persons at their meals ; the wag 
of a company. 
trencher-cap (tren'cher-kap), n. A cap of the 
peculiar form worn by professors and students 
at some universities ; a mortar-board. 
trencher-chaplaint (tren'cher-chap"lan), n. A 
domestic chaplain. Heyliii. 
trencher-coat (tren'cher-kot), H. In gilding, a 
preparatory coating applied before the gold- 
leaf is laid on. It consists of Armenian bole. 
bloodstone, and galena, mixed up in water, with 
a little olive-oil. 
