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
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.
Four years ago, Joseph R. Biden Jr. collected $62 million (nearly $76 million in 2025 dollars) for his inauguration, though that celebration was pared down because of the coronavirus pandemic. Theodore Schleifer, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2025 Meanwhile, the euro was choppy on Monday, paring gains against the greenback to fall 0.3% in the afternoon. Jenni Reid, CNBC, 14 Apr. 2025 In less than 100 days, Trump did all the above while allowing billionaire Elon Musk to dictate to him what federal programs, such as Social Security and Medicaid, should be pared back, thereby threatening the livelihood and health care of millions of Americans. Bea L. Hines, Miami Herald, 12 Apr. 2025 But markets are still flailing, as stocks pared down Wednesday’s gain on Thursday. Danielle Chemtob, Forbes.com, 11 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for pare

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

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Cite this Entry

“Pare.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pare. Accessed 28 Apr. 2025.

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

More from Merriam-Webster on pare

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