a. (sb.) Also 4–5 trenchaunt, (5 -aunte), -ande, (5 Sc. trensand, 6 trenchand, 7 trencheant, trinchante); see also TRANCHANT. [a. OF. trenchant (mod.F. tranchant), pr. pple. of † trenchier, trancher to cut: see TRENCH v. and -ANT.]
1. Cutting, adapted for cutting; having a keen edge, sharp; † sharp-pointed (obs.). arch. and poet.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 4414. Nemny on þe heued he smot; Hit was trenchaunt, ouer fer hit bot.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 537. Ich hem wolde wel conquere wiþ my swerd trenchaunt.
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), v. 47. This monstre … hadde ij hornes trenchant on his forhede.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, IV. 662. The trensand blaid to-persyt euirydeill.
c. 1477. Caxton, Jason, 8 b. Jason smote another Centaure in the nekke with a trenchaunt arowe.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. i. 17. He … with his trenchand blade her boldly kept From turning backe.
1663. Butler, Hud., I. I. 359. The trenchant Blade, Toledo trusty, For want of fighting was grown rusty.
a. 1774. Goldsm., Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776), I. 236. The thin or trenchant end [of the wedge] is applied to the timber to be cleft, and the thick end struck upon by an hammer.
1830. Tennyson, ‘Clear-headed friend,’ ii. Nor martyr-flames, nor trenchant swords Can do away that ancient lie.
b. Zool. Of a tooth, bill, etc.: Having a cutting edge; sectorial.
1834. McMurtrie, Cuvier’s Anim. Kingd., II. 136. In a fourth tribe [of fishes], the teeth are trenchant. It comprises two genera, Boops and Oblada.
1835–6. Todd’s Cycl. Anat., I. 312/2. Trenchant bills which are … flattened horizontally.
1881. Mivart, Cat, 29. The lower molar … having a more completely trenchant form than any other tooth.
c. transf., or in fig. or allusive use.
1603. Holland, Plutarch’s Mor., 30. Whose blood … now Trenchant Mars hath shed.
1809. W. Irving, Knickerb., VI. viii. (1849), 369. Pursuing its trenchant course, it severed off a deep coat pocket.
1851. Gladstone, Glean., VI. lix. 39. Must it not be dangerous to place weapons so keen and trenchant in the hands of raw recruits?
1865. Sir C. C. Cavendish (‘Umbra’), Travels, I. i. 10. Thou canst not lash a shade; as well mightst thou carve the impalpable and viewless air with thy trenchant paper-knife.
1871. Freeman, Hist. Ess., Ser. I. v. 117. The biographer of Edward [III.], Mr. Longman, cannot wield the trenchant weapons of Lord Brougham.
2. fig. esp. of language: Incisive; vigorous and clear; effective, energetic.
a. 1325. [implied in TRENCHANTLY].
1663. Butler, Hud., I. III. 882. Their Swords Were sharp and trencheant, not their Words.
1824. Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. I. (1863), 208. Some trenchant repartee, that cuts off the poor answer’s head like a razor. Ibid. (1842), in L’Estrange, Life (1870), III. ix. 159. The most trenchant and violent writer of the ‘Times.’
1877. Owen, Wellesley’s Desp., p. xxxvi. For all these evils … Wellesley devised prompt and trenchant remedies, most unpalatable to his employers.
3. transf. and fig. Sharply defined or outlined; clear-cut; distinct.
1849. Ruskin, Sev. Lamps, iii. § 14. 78. The use of the dark mass characterises, generally, a trenchant style of design.
1852. Dana, Crust., II. 745. This subtribe has trenchant limits.
1873. H. Rogers, Orig. Bible, ii. 78. The line of demarcation is seemingly most sharp and trenchant.
¶ 4. erron. Capable of being cut.
1824. Lamb, Elia, Ser. II. Blakesmoor in H—shire. What herald shall go about to strip me of an idea? Is it trenchant to their swords?
† B. sb. One who or that which cuts or severs; a cutter, a divider. Obs. rare–1.
a. 1660. Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.), I. 133. A turne-coate of lawfull confederacie, a trinchante of holy union, a scandall and reproofe of all Christian pietie.
† b. Esquire trenchant, an esquire carver; cf. ESQUIRE sb.1 1 c and 5, quot. 1797. Obs.
1563. Randolph, in Calr. Scott. Pap., II. 3. A longe yonge man … one of her graces esquire trenchantes.
[Cf. 1611. Cotgr., Trenchant, Escuyer,… valet trenchant, a Caruer.]
