as in to reduce
formal
to change the way things are done in order to spend less money
When the economy slowed, the company was forced to retrench.
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Recent Examples of retrench
The store is seeking to enter a new phase of growth by retrenching its retail leadership in France while accelerating its global ambitions across both flagship locations and digital platforms.
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Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 23 Sep. 2025
The museum did some retrenching earlier this year, eliminating some staff positions and long-vacant roles, citing sharply rising operational costs in the face of slower growth in revenue and philanthropic support.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Republicans have long sought to repeal the Affordable Care Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010, and retrench Medicaid, a joint federal-state partnership created by the Great Society Congress in 1965 to provide health insurance to the poor.
—Ronald Brownstein, Mercury News, 27 June 2025
The reorganization was a recognition by president of basketball operations Brad Stevens that without Tatum, the Celtics are best served to retrench and regroup while whittling their payroll to a more manageable level.
—Jack Magruder, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for retrench
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retrench
Verb
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During his January 2025 State of the State address, Little called for tax cuts that could reduce the state’s general fund by about $100 million.—
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To reduce sizes, builders are going back to open floor plans with fewer hallways.—
Verb
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Carolina cut the lead 17-14 at halftime after a 1-yard touchdown run by Hubbard and a 16-yard scramble by Young, the second-longest TD run of his career.—
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This same staff cut him to make room for a waiver-wire claim before the start of the 2024 season.—
Verb
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Major airlines have announced further cancellations to hundreds of flights scheduled through the weekend after more than 1,000 were slashed on Friday.—
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Fiserv’s crash came after the compan y slashed its full-year guidance and announced several changes to its executive leadership team.—
Verb
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Renk and Leonardo initially led the pan-European Stoxx 600 index, moving more than 4% higher, but pared gains through the session.—
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Trump’s edict was light on details — and the shares pared those losses in later trading — but the message was sent.—
Verb
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Headcount shrank for an 11th straight month, albeit at a slower pace, amid modest production growth.—
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The number of Republicans running for governor in Colorado has shrunk by two.—
Verb
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This production, directed by David Cromer and co-starring Namir Smallwood, also ran twice at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago (with the first run curtailed by the pandemic) before moving to Broadway.—
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In virtually all cases outside of Detroit, newspapers concluded their partnerships with mergers, one partner shuttering its operations or the smaller paper dramatically curtailing operations.—
Verb
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Things had to be truncated or moved around, but a lot of the favorite moments have made it in.—
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The president dares not truncate this process of legal, moral and ethical decision-making.—
Verb
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Newsom claims homelessness decline Newsom during his final State of the State address Thursday claimed the state’s homeless population decreased last year.—
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Meanwhile, the number of job openings have decreased nearly 10% on the year to 729,000 in the September to November period from a year ago, the ONS found.—
Cite this Entry
“Retrench.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retrench. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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