retrench
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ɹɪˈtɹɛn(t)ʃ/
  • (GA) IPA: /ɹəˈtɹɛn(t)ʃ/
Verb

retrench (retrenches, present participle retrenching; past and past participle retrenched)

  1. (transitive) To cut down or reduce.
    1. (transitive, specifically) To terminate the employment of a worker to reduce the size#Noun|size of a workforce; to make redundant.
      Synonyms: fire, let go, sack, Thesaurus:lay off
  2. (transitive) To confine#Verb|confine; to limit#Verb|limit; to restrict.
  3. (transitive, military) To furnish with a retrenchment (a defensive work#Noun|work within a fortification).
    to retrench bastions
  4. (intransitive) To abridge; to curtail.
    • 1671, John Milton, “Book the First”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: Printed by J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398 ↗, lines 454–459, page 25 ↗:
      But this thy glory ſhall be ſoon retrench'd; / No more ſhalt thou by oracling abuſe / The Gentiles; henceforth Oracles are ceaſt, / And thou no more with Pomp and Sacrifice / Shalt by enquir'd at Delphos or elſewhere, / At leaſt in vain, for they ſhall find thee mute.
  5. (intransitive) To take up a new defensive position#Noun|position.
    We must retrench and try to hold on long enough for products in development to reach the market or we will be out of business.
  6. (intransitive) To live less expensively; to economize.
Verb

retrench (retrenches, present participle retrenching; past and past participle retrenched)

  1. (transitive) To dig#Verb|dig or redig a trench#Noun|trench where one already exists.



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