trough
Definitions
General English
- noun a long narrow open container for food or water for farm animals
- noun a low point between two higher points of something that rises and falls regularly
Agriculture
- noun a long narrow area of low pressure with cold air in it, leading away from the centre of a depression
- noun a long narrow open wooden or metal container for holding water or feed for livestock
Banking
- noun a low point in the economic cycle
Construction
- A channel used to contain electric power or control cables.
Electronics
- The minimum instantaneous value of a voltage, current, signal, or other quantity.
- The minimum instantaneous absolute value of the displacement from a reference position, such as zero, for a voltage, current, signal, or other quantity.
Slang
- verb to eat. A humorous middle- and upper-class verb evoking (but not necessarily involving) gluttony.
Origin & History of “trough”
Etymologically, a trough is something made out of ‘wood’. Its ultimate source is Indo-European *drukós, a derivative of the base *dru- ‘wood, tree’ (source also of English tree). this passed into prehistoric Germanic as *trugaz, which has since diversified into German and Dutch trog, Swedish tråg, Danish trug, and English trough. English trug ‘shallow basket’ (16th c.) is a variant of trough.
