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.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of retrench
If its future American ownership therefore wants to retrench to Hollywood fare, sources raised concerns that 5 could become something of a shop window for Paramount+, in effect a return to those American import days.
—
Max Goldbart, Deadline, 31 July 2025
At a moment when Nixon was hoping to retrench, NASA proposed a program with an annual cost that would eventually rise to $10 billion, carried out over more than a decade—an expense far greater than Apollo’s.
—Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 28 July 2025
Alongside Bana there’s Rosemary DeWitt as Turner’s ex-wife Jill, Lily Santiago’s Naya Vasquez who left the LAPD to retrench with her 4-year-old son in the great outdoors, and Sam Neill as Yosemite’s chief park ranger.
—Stephen Schaefer, Boston Herald, 13 July 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
See All Example Sentences for retrench
Max Goldbart, Deadline, 31 July 2025
At a moment when Nixon was hoping to retrench, NASA proposed a program with an annual cost that would eventually rise to $10 billion, carried out over more than a decade—an expense far greater than Apollo’s.
—Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 28 July 2025
Alongside Bana there’s Rosemary DeWitt as Turner’s ex-wife Jill, Lily Santiago’s Naya Vasquez who left the LAPD to retrench with her 4-year-old son in the great outdoors, and Sam Neill as Yosemite’s chief park ranger.
—Stephen Schaefer, Boston Herald, 13 July 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
See All Example Sentences for retrench
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retrench
Verb
-
As part of a plea agreement, the murder charge was reduced to involuntary manslaughter, and the remaining charges were dismissed.—
Robert A. Cronkleton,
Kansas City Star,
22 Oct. 2025
-
Additional heavy rainfall is possible beyond Saturday; however, uncertainty in Melissa's track and forward speed reduces confidence in exact totals.—
MIAMI HERALD HURRICANE BOT,
Miami Herald,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Overall, the inflation data likely add fuel to expectations that the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by another quarter percentage point at its policy meeting later this month - its second consecutive cut.—
NPR,
NPR,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Superstar Shohei Ohtani launched a two-run shot to cut the lead down to 11-4, but the momentum still appeared to be on the Blue Jays' side in a raucous Rogers Centre.—
Gabe Smallson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Milei’s Odds Milei, elected in 2023 on a platform of radical libertarian reforms, has pushed austerity measures that have slashed public spending, ended central bank money printing and brought inflation down from 211 percent to roughly 32 percent in under a year.—
Jesus Mesa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Oct. 2025
-
Watching Michael Myers stalk and slash his way through the streets of Haddonfield is always a scary good time, but there's something about queuing up the Halloween movies in October that just hits different (especially on the namesake holiday itself).—
Chris Snellgrove,
Entertainment Weekly,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Shares of SoftBank plunged over 10% before paring losses to about 5%.—
Lim Hui Jie,
CNBC,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Golden Bachelor 2025 cast Owens recently pared the group of women vying for his attention down to the final three.—
Jalen Williams,
Freep.com,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
This, of course, is trivial compared to the risk the Colorado River Basin’s shrinking snowpack poses to nearly every Southwest settlement, livelihood and life form that relies on its steady trickle downstream.—
Joan Meiners,
AZCentral.com,
27 Oct. 2025
-
The analysts pointed to softer insurance investment income, weaker railroad growth and shrinking energy tax credits as mounting headwinds for Berkshire’s sprawling operations.—
Yun Li,
CNBC,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Sportsbooks won’t meaningfully curtail prop offerings without a fight.—
Danny Funt,
New Yorker,
28 Oct. 2025
-
But some federal services have been curtailed.—
David Lightman,
Sacbee.com,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Some are empowered and evolved and some are truncated and lost.—
Stephen Schaefer,
Boston Herald,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Thereafter, however, knee injuries in 2022 and 2023 prevented him from walking off the field healthy in Week 18 — and then a biceps injury in 2024 truncated his season to just five games played.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
As the Universe continues to expand, dark energy’s relative contributions to the energy density will rise, while the remaining components will continue to decrease in relative importance.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
24 Oct. 2025
-
See what prices have increased and decreased.—
Betty Lin-Fisher,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Retrench.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retrench. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share