Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RE-TRENCH', v.t. [Fr. retrancher; re and trancher, to cut; It. trincea, a trench; trincerare, to intrench; trinciare, to carve; W. trycu, to cut.]

1. To cut off; to pare away. And thy exuberant parts retrench. – Denham.
2. To lessen; to abridge; to curtail; as, to retrench superfluities or expenses. – Atterbury.
3. To confine; to limit. [Not proper.] – Addison.