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▪ I. retrench, v.1|rɪˈtrɛnʃ|
[ad. F. retrencher, obs. variant of retrancher: see re- and trench v., and cf. retranch v.]
†1. trans. To cut short, check, repress. Obs.
1607Earl Stirling J. Cæsar ii. ii, Whose rising hopes must be retrench'd so soone. a1661Fuller Worthies i. (1662) 21 Since their violence hath (blessed be God) been seasonably retrenched. 1688S. Parker Reas. Abrogat. Test 89 Under the pious Reigns of David and Solomon the Sin of Idolatry was competently well retrench'd.
†2. To cut off, bar (a way or passage). Obs.
1614Raleigh Hist. World iv. i. (1634) 460 They retrench'd his passage at the streights of Thermopilis. a1618― Prerog. Parl. Ep. Ded., Notwithstanding my restraint hath retrenched all wayes.., yet hath it left with me my cogitations.
3. To cut down, reduce, diminish, in extent, amount, or number.
1625Ho. Comm. Debates (Camden) 86 Annuityes which..former parliaments have used to retrenche. 1649Alcoran 3 Such as retrench his Commandments, and defile the Earth, are damned. 1673[R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 98 They have.. confer'd too large a power in civil affairs..; they will be sure to retrench it in spirituals. 1711Addison Spect. No. 7 ⁋4 It is the chief Concern of Wise-Men, to retrench the Evils of Life by the Reasonings of Philosophy. 1763Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. III. 267 It is now some time since I have fed my coach-horses with it, and have retrenched their oats. 1853C. Brontë Villette xvi, Even with them, all had not gone smoothly, and fortune had retrenched her once abundant gifts.
b. esp. To reduce, curtail (one's expenses, etc.) by the exercise of economy.
1709Steele & Addison Tatler No. 101 ⁋7, I..must be forced to retrench my expensive Way of Living. 1732Fielding Miser i. vii, If you would..retrench your extravagance on this occasion, perhaps the difference..might be made up. 1796Morse Amer. Geogr. I. 295 The colonies therefore entered into measures to..retrench the use of foreign superfluities. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 263 He could retrench his expenses by giving up the costly and useless settlement of Tangier. 1863Fawcett Pol. Econ. i. iv. 43 If the people..are induced to retrench their expenditure, trade will suffer.
4. To cut short; to reduce in size. ? Obs.
a1667Cowley Of Plants Pref., The very Lowness of your Subject has retrenched your Wings. 1705in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 314, I was forced to retrench it half a sheet to make it of the same price of others. 1711Addison Spect. No. 129 ⁋6 That all Women of Fashion were cutting their old Muffs in two, or retrenching them, according to the little Model which was got among them. 1784Cowper Task ii. 318 It may correct a foible,..Retrench a sword-blade, or displace a patch.
†b. To deprive of (the thing removed). Obs.
1664Butler Hud. ii. ii. 23 Many a face Retrench'd of Nose, and Eyes, and Beard. 1698Froger Voy. Pref., I have retrencht it of those tedious particulars. 1721Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 76 The Vegetables, which the Winter-Frosts retrenched of their Beauties, are enlivened.
5. To cut off, remove, take away.
c1650Denham Old Age iii, The pruner's hand, with letting blood, must quench Thy heat, and thy exuberant parts retrench. 1672Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 28 He retrenches..on our part more than he hath Authority for. 1718Freethinker No. 96. 294 It is easier to retrench what is Superfluous, than to supply what is Deficient. 1723Chambers tr. Le Clerc's Archit. I. 118, I retrench one Modillion from the Corniche. 1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. ii, Is there anything else you wish to retrench or alter, gentlemen? 1812Gen. Hist. in Ann. Reg. 135 In others [sc. Parliaments] a year only had been retrenched from their term of existence. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 14 He gradually retrenched all the privileges which the schismatics enjoyed.
b. To do away with (an item of expense).
1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §108 His Credit was ample enough..to Retrench very much of the late unlimited Expences. 1680Dryden Prol. to Lee's Cæsar Borgia 28 So big you look, though claret you retrench, That, armed with bottled ale, you huff the French. 1714Spect. No. 622 ⁋9 To retrench one Dish at my Table, till I have fetched it [{pstlg}10] up again. 1741Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. III. 37 It is true, as all equipages are forbidden, that expense is entirely retrenched. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 566 When every gentleman, every farmer, was retrenching something from the charge of his table and his cellar.
c. To cut out, omit, excise, delete (some portion of a book or document).
c1645Howell Lett. vi. To Rdr., Therfore the Author hath taken pains to retrench such redundant, unnecessary Letters in this Work. 1704Swift Mech. Operat. Spir. Misc. (1711) 271, I retrench'd those Parts that might give most Offence; and have now ventur'd to publish the Remainder. 1741Watts Improv. Mind i. iv, Where he is redundant, mark those paragraphs to be retrenched. 1839Hallam Hist. Lit. iv. vi. §18 The structure of his style is such that nothing could be displaced, nothing added, nothing retrenched. 1869Swinburne Ess. & Stud. (1875) 268 His ‘Ode to Tranquillity’, beginning with two stanzas since retrenched.
6. intr. To economize, reduce expenses.
1663Pepys Diary 26 July, For his family expenses and others, he would labour, however, to retrench in many things convenient. 1737Pope Hor. Epist. i. vii. 75 Can I retrench? Yes, mighty well, Shrink back to my Paternal Cell. c1820S. Rogers Italy (1836) 170 If rich, they go to enjoy; if poor, to retrench. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xviii. IV. 121 Every man who lived..on the fruits of his own industry was forced to retrench.
b. To make excisions or diminutions. rare.
1700Rowe Amb. Step Moth. Ep. Ded., I was led into an Error in the writing of it, by thinking that it would be easier to retrench than to add. 1813J. C. Hobhouse Journey (ed. 2) 1039 The Vizier openly avowed his resolution of abolishing the Janissaries, or at least of..retrenching upon their privileges.
Hence reˈtrenched ppl. a.1; reˈtrenching vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1681Owen Design Judgments Wks. 1851 VIII. 632 They cannot go about it without great retrenchings of that which they have esteemed their liberty. 1780Harris Philol. Enq. Wks. (1841) 396 All ancient books..were liable..to be corrupted in three different ways; that is to say, by retrenchings, by additions, and by alterations. 1831Lady Granville Lett. (1894) II. 81 A retrenching and vexatious public. 1859J. Taylor Logic Theol. 322 These figures, ought they then to receive a retrenched interpretation? 1866Morn. Star 26 July, When the history of retrenching Administrations in this country comes to be written.
Add:[5.] d. euphem. To make (an employee) redundant; to sack.
1975Sunday Tel. (Brisbane) 16 Mar. 5/4 The best workers were kept on while others were retrenched. 1978D. Bloodworth Crosstalk xix. 153 Not now. Not with Denis Healey cutting government spending by a billion pounds... He was being forced to retrench Hilliard and four senior men as it was. 1987India Today 15 Jan. 119/2 The plan to shut down the textile mill in Delhi, retrench 5,000 workers and sell the mill's real estate..has run into trouble.
▪ II. retrench, v.2|rɪˈtrɛnʃ|
[f. as prec.]
trans. (and refl.). To protect by, to furnish with, a retrenchment. Also absol. and fig.
1598Barret Mod. Warres 131 To rampire, repaire, and to retrench against batteries. 1600R. Church Fumée's Hungary 147 They perceived how the Turks were retrenched within. 1675Lond. Gaz. No. 1019/3 The Besiegers had perfectly retrenched themselves between the said Abby and the place. 1690Great Scanderberg 116 He..saw Musselman retrenched in a steep Rock. 1705Addison Italy 513 To retrench themselves within the Conveniencies and Necessities of Life. 1828J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 210 When the ravelin has no réduit, it may be retrenched by a parapet en tenaille; but the narrow ravelins of Cormontaingne can only be retrenched by coupures, across their faces. 1863Kinglake Crimea II. 50 But when they sprang a mine, they ever found that behind the ruins the Turks stood retrenched.
Hence reˈtrenched ppl. a.2
1776Lee in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) I. 152 To prepare a post, or retrenched encampment,..opposite to the city. 1828J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 215 When a retrenched camp is to be formed under the walls of a fortified place, the works may be continuous. 1876Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 341/1 So that the capture of the lines shall not involve that of the retrenched post. |