pare

verb

ˈper How to pronounce pare (audio)
pared; paring
Synonyms of parenext

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

Synonyms

See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus 

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.
Treasury yields, however, pared losses after an auction of U.S. three-year notes priced higher than expectations, suggesting market participants demanded a premium to take down the note. —Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, USA TODAY, 5 Nov. 2024 The cash hoard has grown as Berkshire pared down stakes in key holdings such as Apple and Bank of America . —Fred Imbert, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2024 The Apple-selling frenzy comes as Buffett has pared down his equity holdings across the board over the past two years. —Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2024 With odds still tight ahead of Tuesday, some are paring back. —William Gavin, Quartz, 4 Nov. 2024 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

Phrases Containing pare

Dictionary Entries Near pare

Pardubice

pare

paregoric

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

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

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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

Nglish: Translation of pare for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of pare for Arabic Speakers

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