to retrench
- verb
- /rɪˈtrɛnʧ/
- Formal
- An isolated and insecure North Korea will retrench, but a self-confident and stable North Korea will reach out and seek dialogue with Seoul.
Examples
-
The government resisted World Bank pressures to retrench workers until 1986.
Academic text (1991) -
Over the next several years, we will continuously retrench in every sector of government if we don't get the revenue.
Blog text (7) -
The aerospace industry is also using the technology as a way to retrench and improve.
Academic text (1998) -
Also, as people retrench in the current economic climate, even less energy will be available for 'outrage.'
Blog text (2) -
However, regarding political issues, the new international era of global democratization has caused the Vietnamese authorities to retrench rather than to reform.
Academic text (1991) -
Dozens of pink slips have been issued and several tenured faculty have been retrenched.
Academic text (1991) -
From January 1987 to July 1991, the government retrenched 48,000 civil servants and non-teachers from the Ghana Education Service.
Academic text (1991) -
The 2007 election win enabled the AKP to retrench, sending Gül to the Ankara Palace as the first non-secular president of Turkey.
Academic text (2009) -
The company decided to retrenched its staff to cut costs during the financial crisis.
-
In response to declining sales, the restaurant had to retrenched its budget for supplies.
Synonyms
To reduce how much you buy and use to save money and be healthier
To spend less money to save or make more money
Reduce the number of staff in a company to save money
To reduce expenses in a company or organization
To cut the amount of money a person or group uses by a lot
To spend less money to save or avoid debt
To cut spending by removing unnecessary costs from a budget
Antonyms
How Much
- NSFW
- Formal
Surface Forms
Etymology
Retrench comes from old French and literally meant 'to cut back'. It joins re- 'back' and a root like trench 'to cut' (think of cutting a ditch), so to retrench today is to 'cut' costs or spending.