retrench
Reduce spending drastically
Retrench means to cut back, reduce, or economize—especially by cutting expenses or staff.
A company that retrenches is tightening its belt, often through layoffs: The firm retrenched after losing its biggest client.
The word carries a sense of strategic withdrawal, pulling back to a more defensible position.
Less commonly, to retrench is to dig a new trench or fortification.
Reducing workforce or scale
- layoffsMass job eliminations
- cost-cuttingReducing expenditures deliberately
- belt-tighteningReducing expenditures deliberately
- streamliningMaking more aerodynamic or efficient
trimming · economizing · austerity · consolidation · contraction · pullback · divestment
Sanctuary or withdrawal
- consolidateUnite separate things
- withdrawRemove or pull away
- contractEnforceable written agreement
- recedeMove back from
Elongated ground excavations
- fortifyMake stronger against threat
- barricadeObstacle blocking a path
- bunkerReinforced subterranean stronghold
- garrisonStationed military force
redoubt · stronghold · bulwark · rampart · earthworks · foxhole · breastwork · palisade
downsizing
Reducing workforce or scale
- layoffsMass job eliminations
- cost-cuttingReducing expenditures deliberately
- belt-tighteningReducing expenditures deliberately
streamlining · trimming · economizing · austerity · consolidation · contraction · pullback · divestment
retreat
Sanctuary or withdrawal
- consolidateUnite separate things
- withdrawRemove or pull away
- contractEnforceable written agreement
recede · disengage · curtail · shrink · narrow · limit · restrict
trenches
Elongated ground excavations
- fortifyMake stronger against threat
- barricadeObstacle blocking a path
- bunkerReinforced subterranean stronghold
garrison · redoubt · stronghold · bulwark · rampart · earthworks · foxhole · breastwork · palisade · emplacement
retrenchment, retrenched, retrenching, retrenches, retrenchments