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.
© Webster 1913.