retrenchment

CEFRC1

/ɹɪˈtɹɛn(t)ʃm(ə)nt/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A reduction in spending, jobs, or activities to save money.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A curtailment or reduction.

Examples

  • A period of economic retrenchment is necessary for the firm.

  • Economic difficulties forced the government into a period of retrenchment.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
4

Also pronounced

  • [ɹi-]
  • /ɹəˈtɹɛnt͡ʃm(ə)nt/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings
  1. An act of reducing expenses; economizing.

  2. An act of terminating the employment of a worker or making an employee redundant, often to reduce expenses; a layoff.

  3. A defensive work constructed within a fortification to make it more defensible by allowing defenders to retreat into and fight from it even after the enemy has taken the outer work.

More examples

In context
  • The company's retrenchment plan led to major budget cuts.

  • It agrees that redundant services should not be continued but is not unmindful of the fact that too much retrenchment of rail services now may ultimately prove detrimental to the economy of the country.

  • Must my anxious management, my prudent retrenchments, dear Margaretta's savings, all go!

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

During the recession, the company's blank led to many job losses.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Probably partly from both of the following: * Middle French retrenchement, retranchement (“removal of a portion from a larger whole; reduction of expenses”) (modern French retranchement (“deduction, subtraction”)), from retrancher, retranchier (“to get rid of, remove completely; to remove a portion from a larger whole; to reduce expenses; to deprive (oneself) of”) [and other forms] + -ment (suffix forming nouns usually of an action or a state resulting from an action). Retrancher and retranchier are derived from Old French re- (prefix meaning ‘again, once more’) + tranchier, trenchier (“to cut”) [and other forms] (modern French trancher (“to slice”)); the further etymology is uncertain, but...