cheeseparing

American  

[cheez-pair-ing] / ˈtʃizˌpɛər ɪŋ /

adjective

1. meanly economical; parsimonious; stingy

---

noun

1. something of little or no value.

2. miserly economizing; stinginess; miserliness.

cheeseparing British  

/ ˈtʃiːzˌpɛərɪŋ /

adjective

1. penny-pinching; stingy

---

noun

1. 1. a paring of cheese rind

   2. anything similarly worthless

2. stinginess

Other Word Forms

• cheeseparer noun

Etymology

Origin of cheeseparing

First recorded in 1590–1600; cheese ¹ + paring

Example Sentences

But it was an artifact of budget politics; the expectation was that Congress would get around to fixing the cheeseparing subsidy schedule at a later date.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 2, 2025

There are numerous manifestations of this cheeseparing habit.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 28, 2022

Long Beach isn’t the first locality to step up to protect rank-and-file workers from their employers’ cheeseparing ways during the pandemic, and it won’t be the last.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2021

The higher-education industry faces a stark choice: either adapt to a rapidly changing world or face a future of cheeseparing.

From Economist • Dec. 8, 2011

In 1936 he had struggled to obtain an appointment for Robert Serber as his research assistant at Berkeley, where Birge refused to contribute more than a cheeseparing $1,200 for Serber’s salary.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik