pare

verb

pared; paring

transitive verb

1
: to trim off an outside, excess, or irregular part of
pare apples
paring his nails
2
: to diminish or reduce by or as if by paring
pare expenses
the novel was pared down to 200 pages
parer noun

Examples of pare in a Sentence

The company has to find a way to pare expenses. pared the stray branches on the tree
Recent Examples on the Web Officials want to pare those holdings back to more normal levels to avoid playing such a big role in financial markets. Jeanna Smialek, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024 That was later pared back to the 95 net acres included in the appraisal. Stacey Barchenger, The Arizona Republic, 8 Mar. 2024 Meanwhile, Newsom is proposing to pare back homelessness spending because the state faces a multibillion-dollar budget deficit. Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 29 Feb. 2024 The concept has been pared back in recent years because a continuous waterside greenway was deemed impossible in some areas, including around yacht clubs. Jennifer Van Grove, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2024 The version the council voted on Monday was significantly pared down compared to a longer original draft that co-sponsors Sarah Parady and Shontel Lewis, two of the council’s most progressive members, discussed with colleagues at a committee hearing last month. Joe Rubino, The Denver Post, 13 Feb. 2024 An index of regional bank stocks pared most its losses following the announcement. Yuri Kageyama, Quartz, 6 Mar. 2024 But last year, facing a major deficit, Newsom pared that amount to $48 billion, cutting costs to programs that would support zero-emission vehicles and rail projects, residential solar, and energy storage. Jenavieve Hatch, Sacramento Bee, 6 Mar. 2024 Stock for rivals Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly dipped following the results but the firms later pared losses. Robert Hart, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pare.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English paren, borrowed from Anglo-French parer "to make, prepare, adorn, trim, cut off," going back to Latin parāre "to supply, provide, make ready," probably verbal derivative of a nominal base *paro-, formed from parere "to give birth to, bring into being, produce" — more at parturient

Note: The Latin verb is alternatively taken as a direct outcome of an Indo-European present formation *pr̥h3-i̯e-, but the phonetic development has been questioned. Most of the numerous compound verbs formed from parāre, as apparāre "to prepare" (see apparatus), comparāre "to prepare, collect, muster," disparāre "to divide" (see disparate), praeparāre "to furnish beforehand, prepare," reparāre "to recover, restore" (see repair entry 1), sēparāre "to divide" (see separate entry 1), fail to show vowel weakening. The verbs imperāre "to levy, order, command" (see emperor) and properāre "to hasten" (perhaps of independent origin) are for uncertain reasons exceptions. The Romance development in sense from "prepare" to a more concrete "cut (the peeling from), trim"—well attested in Old French—has become virtually the only sense in English, with the broader French meaning "prepare, adorn, decorate" being only marginally attested.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pare was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near pare

Cite this Entry

“Pare.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pare. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pare

verb
ˈpa(ə)r How to pronounce pare (audio)
ˈpe(ə)r
pared; paring
1
: to trim off the outside or the ends of
2
: to reduce as if by paring

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