trough
Americannoun
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a long, narrow, open receptacle, usually boxlike in shape, used chiefly to hold water or food for animals.
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any of several similarly shaped receptacles used for various commercial or household purposes.
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a channel or conduit for conveying water, as a gutter under the eaves of a building for carrying away rainwater.
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any long depression or hollow, as between two ridges or waves.
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Oceanography. a long, wide, and deep depression in the ocean floor having gently sloping sides, wider and shallower than a trench.
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Meteorology. an elongated area of relatively low pressure.
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the lowest point, especially in an economic cycle.
noun
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a narrow open container, esp one in which food or water for animals is put
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a narrow channel, gutter, or gulley
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a narrow depression either in the land surface, ocean bed, or between two successive waves
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meteorol an elongated area of low pressure, esp an extension of a depression Compare ridge
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a single or temporary low point; depression
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physics the portion of a wave, such as a light wave, in which the amplitude lies below its average value
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economics the lowest point or most depressed stage of the trade cycle
verb
Other Word Forms
- troughlike adjective
Etymology
Origin of trough
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English trōh; cognate with Dutch, German, Old Norse trog
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some rest over deep troughs or underwater mountains, while others lie across broad, flat plains.
From Science Daily
“The tips of the waves are called ridges and the bottoms of the waves are called troughs, and so the atmosphere flows just like water.”
From Los Angeles Times
The stock is attempting to stabilize after a punishing four-week slide that saw shares tumble roughly 30% from peak to trough.
From Barron's
“Jay Berry,” Daisy said, “Old Rowdy’s in pretty good shape now. I finally got him to drink some warm milk and I gave him a good cold bath in the watering trough.”
From Literature
I was so thirsty I drank water from a horse’s trough.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
