Hypertext Webster Gateway: "trencher"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Trencher \Trench"er\, n. [OE. trencheoir, F. tranchoir, fr.
trancher to cut, carve. See {Trench}, v. t.]
1. One who trenches; esp., one who cuts or digs ditches.

2. A large wooden plate or platter, as for table use.

3. The table; hence, the pleasures of the table; food.

It could be no ordinary declension of nature that
could bring some men, after an ingenuous education,
to place their ``summum bonum'' upon their
trenchers. --South.

{Trencher cap}, the cap worn by studens at Oxford and
Cambridge Universities, having a stiff, flat, square
appendage at top. A similar cap used in the United States
is called {Oxford cap}, {mortar board}, etc.

{Trencher fly}, a person who haunts the tables of others; a
parasite. [R.] --L'Estrange.

{Trencher friend}, one who frequents the tables of others; a
sponger.

{Trencher mate}, a table companion; a parasite; a trencher
fly. --Hooker.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

trencher
n 1: someone who digs trenches
2: a wooden board or platter on which food is served or carved


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