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⇱ TROUGH Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com


trough

American  
[trawf, trof, trawth, troth] / trɔf, trɒf, trɔθ, trɒθ /

noun

  1. a long, narrow, open receptacle, usually boxlike in shape, used chiefly to hold water or food for animals.

  2. any of several similarly shaped receptacles used for various commercial or household purposes.

  3. a channel or conduit for conveying water, as a gutter under the eaves of a building for carrying away rainwater.

  4. any long depression or hollow, as between two ridges or waves.

  5. Oceanography. a long, wide, and deep depression in the ocean floor having gently sloping sides, wider and shallower than a trench.

  6. Meteorology. an elongated area of relatively low pressure.

  7. the lowest point, especially in an economic cycle.


trough British  
/ trɒf /

noun

  1. a narrow open container, esp one in which food or water for animals is put

  2. a narrow channel, gutter, or gulley

  3. a narrow depression either in the land surface, ocean bed, or between two successive waves

  4. meteorol an elongated area of low pressure, esp an extension of a depression Compare ridge

  5. a single or temporary low point; depression

  6. physics the portion of a wave, such as a light wave, in which the amplitude lies below its average value

  7. economics the lowest point or most depressed stage of the trade cycle

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. informal (intr) to eat, consume, or take greedily

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
trough Scientific  
/ trôf /
  1. The part of a wave with the least magnitude; the lowest part of a wave.

  2. Compare crest See more at wave

  3. A narrow, elongated region of relatively low atmospheric pressure occurring at the ground surface or in the upper atmosphere, and often associated with a front.

  4. Compare ridge


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.

This fall compares with the index’s 17% decline to its trough during the Kuwait war and the Russia-Ukraine war, he says.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

But its pullback follows an astonishing gain of more than 135% from its Liberation Day trough to its February peak, adding around $2.3 trillion in market value along the way.

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

That trough can be a brutal journey from the highs of inflated expectations where money and excitement are flowing into what might be possible.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

“If the 2022 road map is any guide, equity markets and cyclical currencies will trough only after confirming that the peak in energy prices is in the rearview mirror,” said the pair.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 10, 2026

Well, when the maple sap came to the hole in the tree, it ran out of the tree, down the little trough and into the bucket.”

From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

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.