retrench: [16] Retrench originally meant literally ‘dig a new trench as a second line of defence’. It was borrowed from early modern French retrencher, a descendant of Old French retrenchier. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix re- ‘again’ and trenchier ‘cut off’ (source of English trench, trenchant, etc). The standard present-day sense of retrench, ‘cut back, economize’, first recorded in the 17th century, is a return to the underlying meaning of French retrencher. => trench, trenchant
retrench (v.1)
1590s, "dig a new trench as a second line of defense," 1590s, probably a back-formation from retrenchment in the military sense. Related: Retrenched; retrenching.
retrench (v.2)
"cut off, cut down, pare away" (expenses, etc.), 1620s, from obsolete French retrencher "to cut off, lessen, shorten" (Modern French retrancher, Old French retrenchier), from re- "back" (see re-) + Old French trenchier "to cut" (see trench). Related: Retrenched; retrenching.
双语例句
1. Shortly afterwards, cuts in defence spending forced the aerospace industry to retrench.
不久之后，国防开支的削减迫使航空航天业紧缩开支。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Inflation has forced us to retrench.
因通货膨胀我们不得不紧缩开支.
来自辞典例句
3. The mess of Wall Street means the families have to retrench.
华尔街的动荡对很多家庭来说意味着新一轮的勒紧腰带过日子.
来自互联网
4. As business is bad these days, we have to retrench.
由于最近生意不景气, 我们不得不紧缩开支.
来自互联网
5. Why don't you retrench then - scrape up, hoard , economise?