trencher

What it means

1. archaichistoricalA plate on which food is served or cut.

   Mrs Partridge, upon this, immediately fell into a fury, and discharged the trencher on which she was eating, at the head of poor Jenny […]

   1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC

2. Someone who trenches; especially, one who cuts or digs ditches.
3. A machine for digging trenches.

   The milling action of the bucket line enables the trencher to cut through difficult materials, such as stone rubble and brick filling, and to leave a good trench with clean side walls.

   1956 January, “New Permanent Way Equipment on British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 57

In a sentence

Mrs Partridge, upon this, immediately fell into a fury, and discharged the trencher on which she was eating, at the head of poor Jenny […]

1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC

Where it comes from

1. Old Northern Frenchtrencheor
2. Anglo-Normantrenchour
3. Middle Englishtrenchour
4. Englishtrencher

From Middle English trenchour, from Anglo-Norman trenchour and Old Northern French trencheor (French tranchoir), from trenchier (“to cut, to carve”). See trench (verb).