Dictionary

pare en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈpeə/ (New-Zealand) without the cheer–chair merger
• (Australia) audio
• pâr (Received-Pronunciation)
• /peː/ (Australia)
• pâr (General-American)
• /pɛə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈpiə/ New Zealand, cheer–chair merger
• /pɛɹ/ (General-American)
• /ˈpɜː(ɹ)/ Lancashire, fair–fur merger
• /ˈpeɹ/ (Scotland)

Etymology

From Middle English paren, from Old French parer (“to arrange, prepare, trim”), from Latin parō (“to prepare, arrange; to provide, furnish; to resolve, purpose”) (related to pariō (“to bear, to give birth to; to spawn, produce, beget; to procure, acquire”)), from a Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to bring forward, bring forth”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a cutting device, typically a knife.
   • Victor pared some apples in preparation to make a tart.
2. (qualifier:often with down or back, transitive) To reduce, diminish or trim gradually something as if by cutting off.
   • From May 29 another 10 min. are being pared from the southbound journey, and the time over the 504.4 miles from Paris to Hendaye will come down to 6 hr. 58 min., an average of 72.4 m.p.h. with two intermediate stops. 1960 April, “The European Summer Timetables”, in Trains Illustrated, page 223:
   • Albert had to pare his options down by disregarding anything beyond his meager budget.
   • Also referring to the deeds of certain Border Ruffians, he said, rapidly paring away his speech, like an experienced soldier, keeping a reserve of force and meaning, “They had a perfect right to be hung.” 1859, Henry David Thoreau, A Plea for Captain John Brown:
3. To trim the hoof of a horse.
4. (Ireland, slang) To sharpen a pencil.

Forms

Deriveds

paring · pare down · pare to the bone · cheeseparing · paring knife · parer · pare away · unpared · cheesepare · pare off

Translations (63)

fi supistaa (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · de kappen (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · ru уре́зать (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · cs okrájet (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · sl lupiti (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · fr rogner (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · sv skala ned (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · cs oříznout (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · sl olupiti (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · nl schillen (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · de abschneiden (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · io rekortar (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · es pelar (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · sv skala (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · gl estonar (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · yi אַרומשנײַדן (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · nl beperken (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · cs okrájet (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · de trimmen (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · de abhobeln (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · yi שנײַדן (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · sv göra avkall (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · nl (af)knippen (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · de zurückschneiden (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · yi אָפּשיילן (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · gl espelicar (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · gl planar (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · nl besnoeien (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · sv minska (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · gl parar (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · fr peler (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · gl deluvar (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · sv verka (trim a hoof) · gl depenar (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · nl pellen (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · sl obrezati (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · ru очищать (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · cmn 削皮 (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · de pellen (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · nl snoeien (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · gl depelicar (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · cmn 去皮 (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · de stutzen (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · de abschälen (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · de schälen (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · nl pellen (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · fr éplucher (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · gl mondar (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · bg беля (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · de zurechtstutzen (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · es mondar (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · nl schillen (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · cs seříznout (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · gl pelar (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · yi שאָבן (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · fi leikata (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · de beschneiden (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · fi kuoria (To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a knife) · bg изрязвам (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · bg подрязвам (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · nl beknibbelen (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · io rekortar (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off) · cs ořezat (To reduce or trim something (as if) by cutting off)