/ rɪˈtrentʃ; NAmE / verb
1.
[ v ] ( formal ) ( of a business, government, etc. ) to spend less money; to reduce costs
2.
[ vn ] ( AustralE , NZE , SAfrE ) to tell sb that they cannot continue working for you
► re·trench·ment noun [ U , C ]:
a period of retrenchment
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WORD ORIGIN
late 16th cent. (in the now formal usage): from obsolete French retrencher , variant of retrancher , from re- (expressing reversal) + trancher to cut, slice.