as in cutting
to make (something) shorter or smaller with the use of a cutting instrument
pared the stray branches on the tree
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Recent Examples of paring
Sabrina Weiss, People.com, 4 July 2025
To hull a strawberry: Grab a sharp paring knife with your dominant hand, gripping the blade with your index finger and thumb, and leave about 1 inch poking out.
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 June 2025
R. Daniel Foster, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
With health insurance premiums projected to skyrocket at the end of the year thanks to the expiration of tax credits Democrats enacted during the pandemic, Republicans are likely to focus on paring back those federal subsidies.
—Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 8 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for paring
Verb
Using a sharp paring knife, start at the head end, and slice lengthwise along the back about three-fourths of the way through (do not cut all the way through), following the natural groove.
—Sabrina Weiss, People.com, 4 July 2025
To hull a strawberry: Grab a sharp paring knife with your dominant hand, gripping the blade with your index finger and thumb, and leave about 1 inch poking out.
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 June 2025
Noun
The feat was accomplished through various TV rights, corporate sponsorship and a reliance on existing venues, paring infrastructure costs.
—R. Daniel Foster, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
With health insurance premiums projected to skyrocket at the end of the year thanks to the expiration of tax credits Democrats enacted during the pandemic, Republicans are likely to focus on paring back those federal subsidies.
—Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 8 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for paring
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paring
Verb
-
Analysts estimate the shutdown is shaving billions off the gross domestic product each week and has left around 803,000 federal workers furloughed or working without pay—many of them lower-wage employees.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Oct. 2025
-
No other manager has reached that figure in a quicker time, with the Spaniard shaving 55 matches off Sir Alex Ferguson’s previous 404-game record pace.—
Jordan Campbell,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
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And then there is the guilty past alluded to in those clippings, the memory of which frequently strikes her down with debilitating pain and nausea.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
3 Oct. 2025
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Officers who went to Sellers’s house found a collection of newspaper clippings from the time frame in which Lee was found dead.—
Olivia B. Waxman,
Time,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The Unified Government created a set of incentives, which include cutting permit fees and water and sewer connection fees, for people who want to build on its land bank property to try to encourage redevelopment.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
18 Oct. 2025
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The prince also accused his father of cutting him off financially, and Meghan said the royals discussed denying their children prince and princess titles and police protection.—
Jack Royston,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The revelation felt like a splinter that lodged itself in Kai’s heart.—
Johnny Dodd,
PEOPLE,
11 Oct. 2025
-
There’s splinters on the floor.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Dividend cuts ‘would send shivers through Wall Street’ Clark Williams-Derry, energy finance analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a non-profit organization, said trimming the share buybacks is likely Big Oil’s easiest option.—
Sam Meredith,
CNBC,
13 Oct. 2025
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While holiday spending is expected to rise overall—especially for essential goods such as groceries, which are projected to increase by 23 percent—many shoppers are trimming their budgets in other areas.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The elder Sitake knows about embracing faint slivers of light in dark times.—
Christopher Kamrani,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
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The men were also fortunate enough to find a sliver of cell reception.—
Owen Clarke,
Outside,
13 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Paring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paring. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
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