Definition of "entrench"

entrench

/ɪnˈtɹɛntʃ/

verb
third-person singular simple present entrenches, present participle entrenching, simple past and past participle entrenched
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.
3. (figuratively) To establish a substantial position in business, politics, etc.
  Quotations
  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.
  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
  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.
  2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 September 2013
4. 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.
5. To cut in; to furrow; to make trenches in or upon.
  Quotations
  It was this very sword entrenched it.
  c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene i]
  His face Deep scars of thunder had entrenched.
  1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
6. (figuratively) 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.

Definition of "entrench"

entrench

verb

Quotations

Quotations