mortarboard, mortar board n.
 1. A small square board with a handle beneath, for holding mortar; a hawk; used by masons to hold or carry mortar.
 2. An academic cap topped by broad, projecting, stiff and flat square top, with a tassel attached to the top and hanging down.  It was once worn by students in some colleges, but is now worn usually only at graduation ceremonies.
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 Trench·er n.
 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.
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