pare

¹ American  

[pair] / pɛər /

verb (used with object)

pared, paring

1. to cut off the outer coating, layer, or part of.

2. to remove (an outer coating, layer, or part) by cutting (often followed by off oraway ).

3. to reduce or remove by or as by cutting; diminish or decrease gradually (often followed bydown ).

   to pare down one's expenses.

   Synonyms:

   lessen , shave , clip

   Antonyms:

   increase

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Paré ² American  

[pa-rey] / paˈreɪ /

noun

1. Ambroise 1510–90, French surgeon.

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pare ¹ British  

/ pɛə /

verb

1. to peel or cut (the outer layer) from (something)

2. to cut the edges from (the nails); trim

3. to decrease bit by bit

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Paré ² British  

/ pare /

noun

1. Ambroise (ɑ̃brwaz). 1510–90, French surgeon. He reintroduced ligature of arteries following amputation instead of cauterization

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Related Words

See peel ¹.

Other Word Forms

• pareable adjective
• parer noun
• unpared adjective

Etymology

Origin of pare

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English paren, from Middle French parer, “to make ready, trim” from Latin parāre ”to prepare, make ready“; prepare

Example Sentences

Car buyers continued to shrug off higher prices earlier this year even as they pared back shopping for everything from dishwashers to beer.

From The Wall Street Journal

The United States pared back the original draft following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but the current contents remain unclear.

From Barron's

The couple are set to honeymoon in Australia from Monday and Friday next week - plans that were pared back after his re-election in May.

From BBC

The Angels pared down their witness list at the request of Judge H. Shaina Colover, who has insisted the case go to the jury by Dec. 15.

From Los Angeles Times

The stock has pared some gains to be up 0.8% in recent morning trading, with the market cap at $993.7 billion.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• cut back
• cut down
• decrease
• lower
• mark down
• prune
• reduce
• scrape
• shave
• slash