pare
[verb]
Synonyms:
- peel, clip, cut, shave, skin, trim
- cut back, crop, cut, decrease, dock, reduce

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Related Words: flay, scalp, skin, strip

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

pare /peə $ per/ verb [transitive]
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: parer 'to prepare, make neat', from Latin parare 'to prepare']

1. to cut off the outer layer of something, using a sharp knife:
Pare the rind from the fruit.

2. to reduce the amount, number, or size of something as much as you can:
The firm has not been able to pare costs fast enough to match competitors.
The country’s defences have been pared to the bone (=reduced as far as possible).
pare something ↔ down phrasal verb
to reduce something, especially by making a lot of small reductions:
The list was pared down for the final interviews.
—pared-down adjective:
Even in its pared-down form, the contract was unacceptable.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲