entrench

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English

WOTD – 14 September 2015

Alternative forms

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Verb

entrench (third-person singular simple present entrenches, present participle entrenching, simple past and past participle entrenched) (transitive, intransitive)

  1. (literally) To cut in; to furrow; to make trenches in or upon.
    1. (construction, archaeology) To dig or excavate a trench; to trench.
    2. (military) To surround or provide with a trench, especially for defense; to dig in.
      The army entrenched its camp, or entrenched itself.
  2. (figuratively)
    1. 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.
    2. To establish a substantial position in business, politics, etc.
      Senator Cornpone was able to entrench by spending millions on each campaign.
      • 2009, Andrew B. Fisher, Matthew O'Hara, “Forward”, in Andrew B. Fisher, Matthew O'Hara, editors, Imperial Subjects: Race and Identity in Colonial Latin America, page 4:
        Given these entrenched ideological assumptions about the colonial order, it is no wonder that the state and those groups with an interest in the status quo viewed with suspicion and hostility any challenges to the fixed and "natural" boundaries between different sorts of people.
      • 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 September 2013:
        For London to have its own exclusive immigration policy would exacerbate the sense that immigration benefits only certain groups and disadvantages the rest. It would entrench the gap between London and the rest of the nation. And it would widen the breach between the public and the elite that has helped fuel anti-immigrant hostility.
    3. 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.

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