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verb

Retrench v. t. (past & past part. retrenched; pres. part. retrenching)

To cut off; to pare away. "Thy exuberant parts retrench."

To lessen; to abridge; to curtail; as, to retrench superfluities or expenses. "But this thy glory shall be soon retrenched."

To confine; to limit; to restrict. "These figures, ought they then to receive a retrenched interpretation?"

(Fort.) To furnish with a retrenchment; as, to retrench bastions.

Synonyms: To lesen; diminish; curtail; abridge.

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Etymology of 'Retrench'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Retrench" Quotes from Famous Books

... financial affairs still existed. Cash in large amount was not received, and it was perilous times with the Direction. When the fall of the year came, it was announced that we must retrench our meagre diet, to enable us to go on until our labor could pay us better— until we could improve our employments and enlarge the institution so that there could be more producers—and it was submitted to without ...

— Brook Farm • John Thomas Codman

... days many who will mock; but for my part I am proud of a race whose social relations are the last upon which they will retrench, whose latest yielded pleasure is their hospitality. It is a common feeling that only the WELL-TO-DO have a right to be hospitable: the ideal flower of hospitality is almost unknown to the rich; it can ...

— What's Mine's Mine • George MacDonald

... "But we've got to retrench. Every superfluous expenditure must be cut off. As for the park and free library, that seems wild now, doesn't it? I don't regret abandoning the scheme. The people of this town never did appreciate public ...

— The Wit and Humor of America, Volume IX (of X) • Various

... Chasles and accepted by M. Saint-Amand, truthful? "This intelligent woman, far from being too much heeded, was not enough so. There was in her a veritable love for the public welfare, a true sorrow in the midst of our misfortunes. To-day, it is necessary to retrench much from the grandeur of her worldly power and add a great deal to that of her soul." M. Saint-Amand believes her sincere when she wrote to ...

— Women of Modern France - Woman In All Ages And In All Countries • Hugo P. Thieme

... returned Mrs. Cheyne, half amused and half mystified at the girl's obvious confusion. What did the child mean? They were gentle-people,—one could see that at a glance. They were in reduced circumstances: they had come down to Hadleigh to retrench. Well, what did that matter? People's wealth or poverty never affected her; she would think none the less well of them for that; she would call at the Friary and entertain them at the White House with as much pleasure as though they lived in a palace. The little mystery ...

— Not Like Other Girls • Rosa N. Carey

... printed at London 1725, in two volumes, and corrected such faults as in either of the two former editions obscure the sense: in this edition are also added, some poems from original manuscripts. Great care has likewise been taken by Mr. Cooke, to retrench such pieces as he was ...

— The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) - Vol. IV • Theophilus Cibber

Words linked to "Retrench" : trim, trim back, cut, cut down, bring down, economise, conserve, economize, husband, trim down, reduce, cut back