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trenchant

adjective

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L341329 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈtɹɛnʃənt/

adj

Etymology: Borrowed into Middle English from Old French trenchant, the present participle of trenchier (“to cut”).

  1. Fitted to trench or cut; gutting; sharp.

    The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty, / For want of fighting was grown rusty, / And ate into itself, for lack / Of somebody to hew and hack.

  2. Fitted to trench or cut; gutting; sharp.

    The trenchant talonid is a character of some miacids and distinguishes these teeth from the hyaenodontids and oxyaenids.

  3. Keen; biting; vigorously articulate and effective; severe.

    trenchant wit

    His eyes, of the usual blue, were perhaps remarkably cold, and he certainly could make his glance fall on one as trenchant and heavy as an axe.