pare

as in to shave
to make (something) shorter or smaller with the use of a cutting instrument pared the stray branches on the tree

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pare The rush of practical information has pared back a sense of helplessness — and injected new energy and hope for many. The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 June 2025 European shares pared early losses to trade in firmer territory, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 marginally higher following a sell-off at the open. Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 23 June 2025 The current agenda is pared down from what was previously on the schedule. Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill, 18 June 2025 Each has flares of humor and surprise, but there is something cramped about them too, a sense of exhausted expectations, of a genre being pared down to a bundle of tropes. Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for pare
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pare
Verb
  • The index dipped only slightly, but that nonetheless shaved off some gains from what could have been a higher high.
    Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 30 June 2025
  • This was in the days when only lunatics or scary white punks had shaved heads.
    Hilton Als, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Verb
  • The prospect of trying to cut open a stubborn 5-4-1 block in the Orlando heat could have become torturous quite quickly.
    Liam Tharme, New York Times, 28 June 2025
  • At that point, roughly 70 million Social Security recipients would see their monthly benefits cut by about 20%.
    Alain Sherter, CBS News, 27 June 2025
Verb
  • Some might have trimmed guest lists — not for space, but to cut the grocery bill.
    Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 July 2025
  • Jon Hart serape tour tote Whataburger's Jon Hart tour tote is stadium compliant in clear plastic, trimmed in all-natural leather and sporting serape webbing handles.
    Alexis Simmerman, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Pare.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pare. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.

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