pare
verb (used with object)
to cut off the outer coating, layer, or part of.
pare
1 American
[pair]
/ pɛər /
verb (used with object)
-
pares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pared,
past participle, past
-
paring
present participle
-
to cut off the outer coating, layer, or part of.
-
to remove (an outer coating, layer, or part) by cutting (often followed by off oraway ).
-
to reduce or remove by or as by cutting; diminish or decrease gradually (often followed bydown ).
to pare down one's expenses.
- Antonyms:
- increase
Paré
2
American
[pa -ray]
/ paˈreɪ /
noun
pare
1
British
/ pɛə /
verb
-
to peel or cut (the outer layer) from (something)
-
to cut the edges from (the nails); trim
-
to decrease bit by bit
Paré
2
British
/ pare /
noun
Synonym Usage
See peel 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
paresimple
-
paressimple
-
have paredperfect
-
has paredperfect
-
am paringprogressive
-
are paringprogressive
-
is paringprogressive
-
have been paringperfect progressive
-
has been paringperfect progressive
Past
-
paredsimple
-
had paredperfect
-
was paringprogressive
-
were paringprogressive
-
had been paringperfect progressive
Future
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“; see origin at prepare
Explanation
To pare is to trim — like when you pare branches on a tree or pare down your expenses to save money. Pare comes from the Latin word parare, meaning "to prepare." Think of peeling potatoes, which you might do with a paring knife, or paring your nails so you'll make a neat appearance. In each case, you are trimming something gradually. If you pare down your expectations, you might be pleasantly surprised.
Vocabulary lists containing pare
"The Railway Train" by Emily Dickinson
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Our Town
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Twelfth Night
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Starbucks may be closing 36 locations in Southern California as the chain looks to pare down its store count and shut underperforming coffee houses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
Such arguments are meant to pare down complicated, systemic issues into a series of individual choices.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
The financial strain is already causing developers to pare back on new construction and instead buy distressed properties at a sharp discount.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
The concern is that investors borrowing in the low-yielding yen to reinvest elsewhere — what’s called the carry trade— will have to pare or eliminate those bets as the yen rises.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
It takes cognitive toil and literary dexterity to pare an argument to its essentials, narrate it in an orderly sequence, and illustrate it with analogies that are both familiar and accurate.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Paré described the number of shots fired as in the "hundreds," according to the station.
From Fox News ● Feb. 10, 2022
Talk about what resources your parents plan to use to pay for care, Paré says.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 26, 2021
Hugh T. Clements Jr., and the public-safety commissioner, Steven M. Paré, stood at the edge of the rally until early evening, talking with any passers-by who came forward.
From New York Times ● Jun. 23, 2020
Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Paré said Tuesday that none of the hurt officers was seriously injured.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 2, 2020
Heister noted that while Paré had used the scarificator only for incipient mortification, it was now “used with good success by our Cuppers in many other Diseases, as I myself have frequently seen and experienced.”
From Bloodletting Instruments in the National Museum of History and Technology by Toby Appel
First, the order pares the list of recommended immunizations to 11 diseases from 17.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
MS pares forecasts for immunoglobulin and albumin revenue growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Moderna pares early gains even as the drugmaker posts higher revenue and a narrower loss for the first quarter.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
When the prime minister addresses the cabinet, not far away in 10 Downing Street, he is primus inter pares, first among equals, sitting among his or her ministers.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2025
The Old Dominion was accustomed to thinking of itself as primus inter pares in any confederation of states.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
This latest decline is down not just to hot weather, which has been slightly mitigated by recent rainfall, but also a reduction in cultivated areas -- pared back 1.9 percent in the past year.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Both main contracts fell Monday, extending Friday's drop, though the losses were pared by news that Yemen had started a new military operation to retake all territory held by the Houthis.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
Nasdaq futures pared earlier gains but still rose as investors balance AI enthusiasm with an increasingly gloomy macroeconomic picture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
As a result, those two companies have pared back their spending on buybacks in recent quarters.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
He was hungry, and his meager diet had pared his body down to a feral scrawn of gristle and bone, but he seemed to be in reasonably good health.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose as high as 5.04%, its highest level since 2007, before paring gains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
The stock plunged as much as 25% in premarket trading soon after the results, before paring losses.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
The S&P 500 reached an intraday high of 7,741.27 on Thursday, before paring some gains to close at 7,730.99.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
Vaccine scientists have said parents shouldn’t be concerned that vaccines cause autism and that there is no scientific justification for dramatically paring down the childhood vaccine schedule.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Naomi froze, the paring knife trembling between her fingers.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
