From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishretrenchre‧trench /rɪˈtrentʃ/ verb [intransitive] formal SPEND MONEYif a government or organization retrenches, it spends less money SYN economize —retrenchment noun [countable, uncountable] a government policy of retrenchment→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
retrench• These recent proposals reflect Moscow's current priority to retrench economically and militarily in the Third World.• The hospitals would be left to retrench naturally, while community services would remain patchy and slow to evolve.• At this stage, the Government began to retrench on its nuclear programmes.• Pru-Bache is to retrench to Bache's old strength of retail stockbroking.From Longman Business Dictionaryretrenchre‧trench /rɪˈtrentʃ/ verb [intransitive] formalFINANCEECONOMICS if a company, industry, or government retrenches, it spends less moneyDefense companies are retrenching and have scaled back orders. —retrenchment noun [countable, uncountable]No sooner had he taken office when he announced a savage program of retrenchment and deflation.a drasticretrenchment plan→ See Verb tableOrigin retrench (1500-1600) Early French retrencher, from Old French trenchier “to cut” 