\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.