trench mortar

Meanings

nountrench mortar (plural trench mortars)

A small mortar designed to fire shells from one trench to an enemy trench.
The medical captain, ‘What hit you?’ Me, with the eyes shut, ‘A trench-mortar shell.’
1929, Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, Folio Society, published 2008, page 64
Synonyms: TM, toc emma

nounA small mortar designed to fire shells from one trench to an enemy trench.

Similar

nouna muzzle-loading high-angle gun with a short barrel that fires shells at high elevations for a short range

Similar

Broader

high-angle gun

Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry

APA

trench mortar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trench%20mortar

MLA

“trench mortar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trench%20mortar. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trench mortar,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trench%20mortar.