entrench
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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:
In Tehran, some ordinary Iranians feared a deal with the United States would entrench the authorities' rule.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 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
In a January essay, he detailed concerns that bad actors could use AI to mount devastating biological attacks, and that authoritarian regimes could use it to entrench their power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
Venezuela’s long absence from Western markets helped entrench Canadian heavy crude as the dominant supplier to U.S. refineries configured for heavy barrels.
From Barron's ● Jan. 3, 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
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
Southwest as yet another heat dome entrenches itself over the southern tier of the country and Mexico.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 11, 2023
A post so fill'd on nature's laws entrenches: Benches on boats are placed, not boats on benches.
From The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 2 by Browning, William Ernst
Many of these winning candidates have unseated entrenched incumbents, as 29-year-old Colorado attorney Melat Kiros did to U.S.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
The equal protection clause was written to provide a powerful weapon against entrenched prejudice.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026
"Therefore, psychotherapy sometimes has to work relationally. For example, new experiences in the relationship between therapist and patient can gradually help to change entrenched relational patterns."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 1, 2026
Analysts remain optimistic about the company’s prospects, saying Axon is too deeply entrenched in the policing market to be easily displaced.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Shorthand terms are unobjectionable, indeed indispensable, when a term has become entrenched in the community one is writing for.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
"The more mpox circulation we permit, the more opportunities the virus has to recombine and adapt, further entrenching mpox virus as a human pathogen that is not going away," she said.
From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2025
Britain’s economy expanded only slightly in August, entrenching a period of slow growth after the fast clip at the start of this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 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
Without such limits, we risk entrenching an industry whose environmental harms outweigh its climate benefits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2024
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
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.
