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retrench

 - 3 dictionary results

re⋅trench

  [ri-trench]
Use retrench in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to cut down, reduce, or diminish; curtail (expenses).
2. to cut off or remove.
3. Military. to protect by a retrenchment.
–verb (used without object)
4. to economize; reduce expenses: They retrenched by eliminating half of the workers.
Origin:
1600–10; < F retrencher (obs. var. of retrancher), MF retrenchier, equiv. to re- re- + trenchier to trench

Related forms:
re⋅trench⋅a⋅ble, adjective
re⋅trench⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. decrease, abridge, cut.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To retrench
re·trench   (rĭ-trěnch')   
v.   re·trenched, re·trench·ing, re·trench·es

v.   tr.

  1. To cut down; reduce.

  2. To remove, delete, or omit.

v.   intr.
To curtail expenses; economize.

[Obsolete French retrencher, from Old French retrenchier : re-, re- + trenchier, to cut; see trench.]
re·trench'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

retrench 
1598, "dig a new trench as a second line of defense," from Fr. retrencher "to cut off," from re- "back" + O.Fr. trenchier "to cut." Sense of "cut down, reduce (expenses, etc.)" is from 1625.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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