Entrench

//ɛnˈtɹɛnt͡ʃ// verb

verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To cut in; to furrow; to make trenches in or upon. ambitransitive, literally

    "It was this very sword entrenched it."

  2. 2
    fix firmly or securely wordnet
  3. 3
    To cut in; to furrow; to make trenches in or upon.; To dig or excavate a trench; to trench. ambitransitive, literally
  4. 4
    occupy a trench or secured area wordnet
  5. 5
    To cut in; to furrow; to make trenches in or upon.; To surround or provide with a trench, especially for defense; to dig in. ambitransitive, literally

    "The army entrenched its camp, or entrenched itself."

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    impinge or infringe upon wordnet
  2. 7
    To become completely absorbed in and fully accept one's beliefs, even in the face of evidence against it and refusing to be reasoned with. ambitransitive, figuratively
  3. 8
    To establish a substantial position in business, politics, etc. ambitransitive, figuratively

    "Senator Cornpone was able to entrench by spending millions on each campaign."

  4. 9
    To invade; to encroach; to infringe or trespass; to enter on, and take possession of, that which belongs to another; usually followed by on or upon. ambitransitive, figuratively

Synonyms

All synonyms
dig indig inimpingetrenchtrencharm

Example

More examples

"The money of all the world's billionaires is used to sell you on capitalism and to ensure that the laws are crafted in such a way as to entrench it."

Etymology

From en- + trench. First attested in the 1550s.

Related phrases

dig in

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.