troughs

noun

plural of trough
1
as in pipes
a long hollow cylinder for carrying a substance (as a liquid or gas) all of the wiring for the converted residential loft is concealed in a vertical trough

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in ditches
a long narrow channel dug in the earth I slid and fell into the trough by the side of the road, scraping my leg

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in gutters
a pipe or channel for carrying off water from a roof the troughs on the eaves of the house were clogged with leaves

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of troughs The strength of the polar vortex is vulnerable to the large ridges and troughs that form in lower levels of the atmosphere and influence how the jet stream moves. — Doyle Rice, USA Today, 15 Aug. 2026 Free mosquitofish are also available through the Butte County Mosquito and Vector Control District for ponds, troughs and other standing water that cannot be drained. — Jessie Baltaxe, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026 Where the largest earners can afford to spend heavily year-on-year, the rest are beholden to peaks and troughs. — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 12 Aug. 2026 This is because light waves in these sources stay synchronized with their peaks and troughs, making predictable patterns that were thought essential for photon entanglement. — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 6 Aug. 2026 Peaks, troughs, breaks, beginnings, and endings shape the quality of decisions. — Gerald J. Leonard, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026 Possible mosquito breeding areas can include fish ponds, swimming pools, spas, standing water, tree holes, containers, bird baths, roof gutters, pet water bowls, street gutters, wading pools and watering troughs. — Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 11 May 2026 Wooden ladder planters with zinc troughs provide an easy way to achieve vertical gardening in small spaces such as patios. — Midwest Living, 22 Apr. 2026 Gass said a series of upper-level troughs are expected to influence the region through the week, keeping the temperatures from climbing higher. — Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 12 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for troughs
  1. pipes
  2. ditches
  3. gutters
  4. conduits
  5. trenches
  6. tubes
  7. ravines
  8. channels
Noun
  • Seventy million barrels is the strict physical minimum needed at the top of the caverns to keep the extraction pipes safely submerged in oil rather than water, said Siddharth Misra, a petroleum engineering professor at Texas A&M University.
    — Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 15 Aug. 2026
  • The main issues with Puerto Rico’s water infrastructure are the aging pipes that transport the resource across the island to residences and businesses and a lack of funding allocated to restoration projects.
    — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of pipes
Noun
  • This untreated runoff makes its way through storm drains and ditches into our local streams and rivers and eventually, the ocean.
    — Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Both townships and counties had authority to tax land thus providing funds for roads and ditches.
    — Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 26 July 2026
Definition of ditches
Noun
  • Winds ripped gutters from cottages where staff members live during the school year and tore the face from a clock tower that has stood at the school since its founding more than a century ago.
    — Lila Hempel-Edgers, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Ensure your existing gutters are firmly secured, leak-free and properly sloped toward downspouts before mounting guards (a professional will do this as part of their initial assessment, too).
    — Nick Perry, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of gutters
Noun
  • Notably, optics technology isn't just being used to power alternatives to more traditional data conduits.
    — Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 18 Aug. 2026
  • The century-old network of underground conduits, which houses electrical, telecommunications and fiber-optic cables, has been operated by BGE for decades under a contract that expires at the end of 2026.
    — Bryant Reed, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of conduits
Noun
  • Both sides have consequently dug legal and PR trenches to snipe at the other and rally endorsements.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 14 Aug. 2026
  • But since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, frontline combat has seen the return of positional warfare centered on fortified networks of trenches.
    — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of trenches
Noun
  • The adventure begins as the two are all smiles while floating on individual tubes next to each other.
    — Natalia Senanayake, PEOPLE, 14 Aug. 2026
  • For example, his house has tubes for cats to crawl through and hiding boxes.
    — Maddie Rhodes, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of tubes
Noun
  • Rising from near the Aegean coast to 9,573-foot Mytikas, Greece’s highest peak, the mountain encompasses forests, ravines, limestone cliffs, and alpine habitat with unusually rich plant diversity.
    — Bailey Berg, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Hundreds, thousands of solar panels are distributed like macropixels among ravines, pampas, slopes, and wherever there’s room for them.
    — Cristina Dorador, The Dial, 14 July 2026
Definition of ravines
Noun
  • During its two-and-a-half-hour descent through Titan’s thick orange atmosphere, Huygens captured the first-ever views of the surface, revealing river channels, ancient shorelines and a landscape shaped by liquid methane rather than water.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
  • No longer the sole creator of content distributed through his channels, Wayne now oversees hundreds of employees who together produce roughly 1,200 pieces of content per month.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of channels

Browse Nearby Words

trough
troughs
trounce
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Cite this Entry

“Troughs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/troughs. Accessed 20 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of troughs for Spanish Speakers

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