retrenchment
Americannoun
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the act of retrenching; a cutting down or off, as by the reduction of expenses.
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Fortification. an interior work that cuts off a part of a fortification from the rest, and to which a garrison may retreat.
noun
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the act of reducing expenditure in order to improve financial stability
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an extra interior fortification to reinforce outer walls
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of retrenchment
From the French word retrenchement, dating back to 1590–1600. See retrench, -ment
Explanation
In politics or business, retrenchment is the process of saving money by cutting expenses. Retrenchment nearly always involves laying off workers. Retrenchment is basically a formal way of saying "layoffs" or "downsizing." If a company undergoes retrenchment, it's usually in a bad financial situation and must find ways to spend less money. Eliminating jobs is one common way to do this. As a political concept, retrenchment can mean cutting a variety of public expenses during economic downturns. An older meaning of the word was "pruning or lopping off," from the French retrenchement, "a cutting off."
Vocabulary lists containing retrenchment
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.
The results arrived as the film industry looks for signs of a rebound, amid concerns about the broader shift to streaming and an ongoing retrenchment in Hollywood following strikes and the pandemic.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
India's IT services sector - the country's largest graduate employer with eight million workers - is in active retrenchment.
From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2026
The retrenchment from Amazon is part of a broader move by Saks to pare back its businesses as it restructures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026
A history of solid gains in December should also provide support, particularly given the market’s notable November retrenchment.
From Barron's ● Nov. 24, 2025
I have not spent my time studying the problem of “race”—“race” itself is just a restatement and retrenchment of the problem.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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.
