retrench
To cut down or reduceTo cut down or reduce.
» Tom and Mary had to prune their household budget when Tom was retrenched from work.
Meaning
8 senses(transitive)To cut down or reduce.
To cut down or reduce.
(specifically, transitive)To terminate the employment of a worker to reduce the size of a workforce; to make redundant.
make a reduction, as in one's workforce
(intransitive, transitive)To live less expensively; to economize.
(transitive)To confine; to limit; to restrict.
(transitive)To furnish with a retrenchment (a defensive work within a fortification).
to retrench bastions
(intransitive)To abridge; to curtail.
(intransitive)To take up a new defensive 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.
(transitive)To dig or redig a trench where one already exists.
Examples
2 sentencesTom and Mary had to prune their household budget when Tom was retrenched from work.
The company lost a lot of corporate memory when it retrenched a number of middle managers.
Origin
From Old French retranchier (“to get rid of, remove”) (modern French retrancher (“to cut oFrom Old French retranchier (“to get rid of, remove”) (modern French retrancher (“to cut out, take away; to cut off; to cut down”)), from re- (“again”) + tranchier, trenchier (“to cut”) (modern French trancher (“to slice”)); further etymology uncertain, but possibly either from Vulgar Latin *trinicāre (“cut in three parts”) (from the root trini from trēs (“three”), based on the model of duplicāre (“to double by dividing, split in two, tear”)), or from an alteration of Latin truncāre (“to maim by cutting off pieces; to truncate”), also possibly influenced by Gaulish *trincare (“to cut (the head)”). Compare English trench.
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Forms
retrenches, retrenching, retrenched, retrenched| Base form | retrench · to retrench |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | retrenches |
| Present participle | retrenching |
| Past simple | retrenched |
| Past participle | retrenched |
regular · Lesson
Synonyms
31 synonymsWord family
6 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle