What does "trough" mean?
A long, narrow container, open on top, for feeding or watering animals.
Trough
/tɹɒf/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A long, narrow container, open on top, for feeding or watering animals.
- Grammar: trough is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: manger, adit, aerospace, aerosphere.
- Useful contrasts: acrophase, apex, boom.
- Usage evidence: He sits upright, not crouched over his plate like an animal at a feeding trough.
How to use "trough"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "trough" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "trough" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "trough" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "trough" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "trough" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "manger" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "trough", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A long, narrow container, open on top, for feeding or watering animals.
"One of Harriet's chores was to slop the pigs' trough each morning and evening."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of trough. alt-of
- 3 a channel along the eaves or on the roof; collects and carries away rainwater wordnet
- 4 Any similarly shaped container.
"Now, covered concrete troughs to house the cables are laid parallel with the railway lines, cheapening maintenance because of improved accessibility for inspection and repair."
- 5 a container (usually in a barn or stable) from which cattle or horses feed wordnet
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 Any similarly shaped container.; A rectangular container used for washing or rinsing clothes. Australia, New-Zealand
"Ernest threw his paint brushes into a kind of trough he had fashioned from sheet metal that he kept in the sink."
- 7 a long narrow shallow receptacle wordnet
- 8 A short, narrow canal designed to hold water until it drains or evaporates.
"There was a small trough that the sump pump emptied into; it was filled with mosquito larvae."
- 9 a narrow depression (as in the earth or between ocean waves or in the ocean bed) wordnet
- 10 An undivided metal urinal (plumbing fixture) colloquial
- 11 a treasury for government funds wordnet
- 12 A gutter under the eaves of a building; an eaves trough. Canada
"The troughs were filled with leaves and needed clearing."
- 13 a concave shape with an open top wordnet
- 14 A channel for conveying water or other farm liquids (such as milk) from place to place by gravity; any ‘U’ or ‘V’ cross-sectioned irrigation channel. Australia, New-Zealand
- 15 A long, narrow depression between waves or ridges; the low portion of a wave cycle.
"The buoy bobbed between the crests and troughs of the waves moving across the bay."
- 16 A low turning point or a local minimum of a business cycle.
- 17 A linear atmospheric depression associated with a weather front.
Verb
- 1 To eat in a vulgar style, as if from a trough.
"He troughed his way through three meat pies."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"He sits upright, not crouched over his plate like an animal at a feeding trough."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "trough"?
Common synonyms include: manger, adit, aerospace, aerosphere, air, air hole.
How do you use "trough" in a sentence?
He sits upright, not crouched over his plate like an animal at a feeding trough.
How do you pronounce "trough"?
Pronounced /tɹɒf/.
Etymology
PIE word *dóru From Middle English trogh, from Old English troh, trog (“a trough, tub, basin, vessel for containing liquids or other materials”), from Proto-West Germanic *trog, from Proto-Germanic *trugą, *trugaz, from Proto-Indo-European *drukós, enlargement of *dóru (“tree”). See also West Frisian trôch, Dutch trog, German Trog, Danish trug, Swedish tråg; also Middle Irish drochta (“wooden basin”), Old Armenian տարգալ (targal, “ladle, spoon”). More at tree.