entrench
Americanverb (used with object)
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entrenches,
present (3rd person singular)
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entrenched,
past participle, past
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entrenching
present participle
verb (used without object)
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entrenches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
entrenched,
past participle, past
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entrenching
present participle
verb
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(tr) to construct (a defensive position) by digging trenches around it
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(tr) to fix or establish firmly, esp so as to prevent removal or change
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(intr; foll by on or upon) to trespass or encroach; infringe
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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entrenchsimple
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entrenchessimple
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have entrenchedperfect
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has entrenchedperfect
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am entrenchingprogressive
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are entrenchingprogressive
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is entrenchingprogressive
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have been entrenchingperfect progressive
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has been entrenchingperfect progressive
Past
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entrenchedsimple
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had entrenchedperfect
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was entrenchingprogressive
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were entrenchingprogressive
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had been entrenchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of entrench
Explanation
To entrench is to secure something firmly. Entrench a tent pole in the ground so your tent doesn't fly away, or entrench yourself at your new job so you don’t get fired. Dig a little and see that entrench is from en meaning “in” and trench is from the Old French word trenche for "ditch,” just like the kind soldiers hide in. You don’t have to be a soldier to entrench, though — anytime a person or thing is securely inside something, it’s entrenched. If you entrench a swing set in your yard, it's solid. If a government entrenches a spy in another country, that spy blends right in.
Vocabulary lists containing entrench
This Week In Words: March 29–April 4, 2020
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Excerpt from "Self-Reliance"
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Vocabulary from "Love and Math" (Excerpt) by Edward Frenkel
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Denying American startups access to models available abroad would stifle competition, entrench incumbents, and function as a tax on intelligence," the letter from the Little Tech Association said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
“If people see it as part of a broader pattern it is likely that inflation expectations will rise and that could entrench high inflation in the economy,” he warned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
Zhang had been in a position to influence major decisions and personnel appointments, through which he could entrench his own networks, said Guoguang Wu, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026
"We didn't let the enemy entrench in the grey zone and we stopped their storm groups," he said.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
Grant had been criticized for not entrenching at Pittsburg Landing; Halleck, it seemed, was determined to entrench himself all the way from Pittsburg Landing to Corinth.
From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt
Still, budget watchdogs argue that subsidies are too generous and the system disproportionately benefits large farms, which entrenches consolidation in agriculture.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
"This is an issue that further entrenches health inequalities with the most deprived children far more likely to be impacted than their richer peers," she added.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026
The risk is a settlement that entrenches Iranian influence over Persian Gulf energy exports for years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
It entrenches the idea of moviegoing as an exception, a rarity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2023
In the last resort, his pessimism entrenches itself behind the psychological proposition that every satisfaction is negative, being only the removal of a pain.
From Schopenhauer by Thomas Whittaker
“Often, the longer a girl goes without knowing she has autism, the more deeply entrenched are her own negative attributions about her failings,” Kenworthy said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Supporters see a decisive leader prepared to confront Colombia's entrenched violence.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Kashkari said that if inflation remains stubborn, he might support a series of rate increases, not just one, to prevent inflation from becoming more entrenched.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
We often hear we’re living in a new progressive era, not unlike the one 120 years ago when popular reforms took on trusts and entrenched power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Despite European guns, the Indians’ greater numbers, entrenched positions, knowledge of the terrain, and superb archery made them formidable adversaries.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
As everyone waits to see how the bill fares in the Senate, below is a rundown of how a range of industries view proposals to “lock the clock” and “ditch the switch” by entrenching DST.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
The TRRC, which heard harrowing testimony from victims, former security operatives and other witnesses, also called for reparations to be paid to the victims, warning that failure to act risked entrenching impunity.
From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2026
In Mr. Persico’s account, the Protestant Reformation completed the project that Genesis began, entrenching individual autonomy and selfhood in Western culture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
It also risks further entrenching big pharma, which can afford to move its manufacturing and shift supply chains on whim.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2025
With his entrenching tool, which weighed 5 pounds, he began digging a hole in the earth.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
