RETRENCHMENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does retrenchment mean? 

• RETRENCHMENT (noun)
  The noun RETRENCHMENT has 2 senses:

1. entrenchment consisting of an additional interior fortification to prolong the defense

2. the reduction of expenditures in order to become financially stable

  Familiarity information: RETRENCHMENT used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RETRENCHMENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Entrenchment consisting of an additional interior fortification to prolong the defense

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("retrenchment" is a kind of...):

entrenchment; intrenchment (an entrenched fortification; a position protected by trenches)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The reduction of expenditures in order to become financially stable

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

curtailment; downsizing; retrenchment

Hypernyms ("retrenchment" is a kind of...):

economy; saving (an act of economizing; reduction in cost)

Derivation:

retrench (make a reduction, as in one's workforce)

retrench (tighten one's belt; use resources carefully)

 Context examples 

She consulted, and in a degree was influenced by her in marking out the scheme of retrenchment which was at last submitted to Sir Walter.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

She considered it as an act of indispensable duty to clear away the claims of creditors with all the expedition which the most comprehensive retrenchments could secure, and saw no dignity in anything short of it.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)