retrench
verb /rɪˈtrentʃ/
/rɪˈtrentʃ/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they retrench | /rɪˈtrentʃ/ /rɪˈtrentʃ/ |
| he / she / it retrenches | /rɪˈtrentʃɪz/ /rɪˈtrentʃɪz/ |
| past simple retrenched | /rɪˈtrentʃt/ /rɪˈtrentʃt/ |
| past participle retrenched | /rɪˈtrentʃt/ /rɪˈtrentʃt/ |
| -ing form retrenching | /rɪˈtrentʃɪŋ/ /rɪˈtrentʃɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive] (formal) (of a business, government, etc.) to spend less money; to reduce costs
- The Board of Directors realized the need to retrench in the face of falling demand.
- [transitive] retrench somebody (Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English) to tell somebody that they cannot continue working for youCollocations UnemploymentUnemploymentLosing your jobTopics Social issuesc2
- lose your job
- (British English) become/be made redundant
- be offered/take voluntary redundancy/early retirement
- face/be threatened with dismissal/(British English) the sack/(British English) compulsory redundancy
- dismiss/fire/ (especially British English) sack an employee/a worker/a manager
- lay off staff/workers/employees
- (Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English) retrench workers
- cut/reduce/downsize/slash the workforce
- (British English) make staff/workers/employees redundant
- be unemployed/out of work/out of a job
- seek/look for work/employment
- be on/collect/draw/get/receive (both British English) unemployment benefit/jobseeker’s allowance
- be/go/live/sign (British English, informal) on the dole
- claim/draw/get (British English, informal) the dole
- be on/qualify for (North American English) unemployment (compensation)
- be/go/live/depend (North American English) on welfare
- collect/receive (North American English) welfare
- combat/tackle/cut/reduce unemployment
Word Originlate 16th cent. (in the now formal usage): from obsolete French retrencher, variant of retrancher, from re- (expressing reversal) + trancher ‘to cut, slice’.