pare

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

pare, v. t. [F. parer to pare, as a horse's hoofs, to dress or curry, as, leather, to clear, as anchors or cables, to parry, ward off, fr. L. parare to prepare. Cf. Empire, Parade, Pardon, Parry, Prepare.].

•  To cut off, or shave off, the superficial substance or extremities of; as, to pare an apple; to pare a horse's hoof.  [1913 Webster]
•  To remove; to separate; to cut or shave, as the skin, rind, or outside part, from anything; -- followed by off or away; as, to pare off the rind of fruit; to pare away redundancies.  [1913 Webster]
•  Fig.: To diminish the bulk of; to reduce; to lessen.  [1913 Webster]

  "The king began to pare a little the privilege of clergy."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

pare, v.tr.
1 a trim or shave (esp. fruit and vegetables) by cutting away the surface or edge. b (often foll. by off, away) cut off (the surface or edge).
2 (often foll. by away, down) diminish little by little.

Derivative

parer n.

Etymology

ME f. OF parer adorn, peel (fruit), f. L parare prepare

THESAURUS

pare

abridge, abscind, amputate, annihilate, ax, ban, bar, bark, beat down, bisect, bob, break, butcher, carve, cheapen, chop, cleave, clip, compress, crop, cull, curtail, cut, cut away, cut back, cut down, cut in two, cut off, cut out, cut prices, damp, dampen, decline, decorticate, decrease, deduct, deflate, depreciate, depress, devaluate, dichotomize, diminish, dissever, dive, dock, downgrade, eliminate, enucleate, eradicate, except, excise, exclude, excoriate, extinguish, extirpate, fall, fall in price, fissure, flay, gash, give way, hack, halve, hew, incise, isolate, jew down, jigsaw, knock off, lance, lessen, lop, lower, mark down, mutilate, nip, nose-dive, peel, pick out, plummet, plunge, prune, reduce, rend, retrench, rive, roll back, root out, rule out, sag, saw, scale down, scalp, scissor, set apart, set aside, sever, shave, shave off, shear, shorten, shuck, simplify, skin, slash, slice, slit, slump, snip, split, stamp out, step down, strike off, strip, strip off, sunder, take from, take off, take out, tear, trim, truncate, tune down, whittle, wipe out

ROGET THESAURUS

pare

Subtraction

VB subduct, subtract, deduct, deduce, bate, retrench, remove, withdraw, take from, take away, detract, garble, mutilate, amputate, detruncate, cut off, cut away, cut out, abscind, excise, pare, thin, prune, decimate, abrade, scrape, file, geld, castrate, eliminate, diminish, curtail, deprive of, weaken.

Contraction

VB become small, become smaller, lessen, decrease, grow less, dwindle, shrink, contract, narrow, shrivel, collapse, wither, lose flesh, wizen, fall away, waste, wane, ebb, decay, be smaller than, fall short of, not come up to, render smaller, lessen, diminish, contract, draw in, narrow, coarctate, boil down, constrict, constringe, condense, compress, squeeze, corrugate, crimp, crunch, crush, crumple up, warp, purse up, pack, squeeze, stow, pinch, tighten, strangle, cramp, dwarf, bedwarf, shorten, circumscribe, restrain, (subtraction) 38 abrade, pare, reduce, attenuate, rub down, scrape, file, file down, grind, grind down, chip, shave, shear, wear down.

Layer

VB slice, shave, pare, peel, delaminate, plate, coat, veneer, cover.

Divestment

VB divest, uncover &c (cover), denude, bare, strip, disfurnish, undress, disrobe &c (dress, enrobe), uncoif, dismantle, put off, take off, cast off, doff, peel, pare, decorticate, excoriate, skin, scalp, flay, expose, lay open, exfoliate, molt, mew, cast the skin.