Hypertext Webster Gateway: "pare"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pare \Pare\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Pared}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Paring}.] [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}.]
1. To cut off, or shave off, the superficial substance or
extremities of; as, to pare an apple; to pare a horse's
hoof.
2. To remove; to separate; to cut or shave, as the skin,
ring, or outside part, from anything; -- followed by off
or away; as; to pare off the ring of fruit; to pare away
redundancies.
3. Fig.: To diminish the bulk of; to reduce; to lessen.
The king began to pare a little the privilege of
clergy. --Bacon.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
pare
v 1: decrease gradually or bit by bit [syn: {pare down}]
2: cut small bits or pare shavings from; "whittle a piece of
wood" [syn: {whittle}]
3: strip the skin off ("pare apples") [syn: {skin}, {peel}]
4: remove the edges from: "pare one's fingernails"; "trim the
photograph" [syn: {trim}]
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