retrench · verb — to cut down or reduce. It carries an Arena rating of 1557, earned across 21 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, retrench ranks #945 of 17,197 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #1,603 of 17,187 for Most Malleable Words, #1,866 of 17,188 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,525 of 17,180 for Most Ingenious Words.
retrench is pronounced /ɹɪˈtɹɛnt͡ʃ/.
Why “retrench” is a great word
To cut down or reduce by removing that which is deemed superfluous, costly, or expendable. From Old French retranchier ("to get rid of, remove"), from re- ("again") + tranchier ("to cut"), possibly from Vulgar Latin *trinicāre ("cut in three parts") or Latin truncāre ("to maim by cutting off pieces"). First attested in English around 1600. Unlike "curtail," which shortens an extent, or "economize," a practice of general thrift, to retrench is a structural amputation for survival. It is the silent clearing of desks, the stark finality of a spreadsheet column, the hollow echo in a consolidated department—a deliberate, grim pruning back to the essential trunk, hoping something vital remains alive inside.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Old French retranchier (“to get rid of, remove”) (modern French retrancher (“to cut out, take away; to cut off; to cut down”)), from re- (“again”) + tranchier, trenchier (“to cut”) (modern French trancher (“to slice”)); further etymology uncertain, but possibly either from Vulgar Latin *trinicāre (“cut in three parts”) (from the root trini from trēs (“three”), based on the model of duplicāre (“to double by dividing, split in two, tear”)), or from an alteration of Latin truncāre (“to maim by cutting off pieces; to truncate”), also possibly influenced by Gaulish *trincare (“to cut (the head)”). Compare English trench.
verb
- To cut down or reduce.
- To cut down or reduce.; To terminate the employment of a worker to reduce the size of a workforce; to make redundant.
- To confine; to limit; to restrict.
- To furnish with a retrenchment (a defensive work within a fortification).e.g.“to retrench bastions”
- To abridge; to curtail.
- To take up a new defensive position.e.g.“We must retrench and try to hold on long enough for products in development to reach the market or we will be out of business.”
- To live less expensively; to economize.
- To dig or redig a trench where one already exists.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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