pare

pare
    v 1: decrease gradually or bit by bit [syn: {pare}, {pare down}]
    2: cut small bits or pare shavings from; "whittle a piece of
       wood" [syn: {whittle}, {pare}]
    3: strip the skin off; "pare apples" [syn: {skin}, {peel},
       {pare}]
    4: remove the edges from and cut down to the desired size; "pare
       one's fingernails"; "trim the photograph"; "trim lumber"
       [syn: {pare}, {trim}]
    

Pare \Pare\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Pared}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Paring}.] [F. parer to pare, as a horse's hoofs, to dress or
   curry, as, leather, to clear, as anchors or cables, to parry,
   ward off, fr. L. parare to prepare. Cf. {Empire}, {Parade},
   {Pardon}, {Parry}, {Prepare}.]
   1. To cut off, or shave off, the superficial substance or
      extremities of; as, to pare an apple; to pare a horse's
      hoof.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To remove; to separate; to cut or shave, as the skin,
      rind, or outside part, from anything; -- followed by off
      or away; as, to pare off the rind of fruit; to pare away
      redundancies.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Fig.: To diminish the bulk of; to reduce; to lessen.
      [1913 Webster]

            The king began to pare a little the privilege of
            clergy.                               --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]
    

125 Moby Thesaurus words for "pare":
      abridge, abscind, amputate, annihilate, ax, ban, bar, bark,
      beat down, bisect, bob, break, butcher, carve, cheapen, chop,
      cleave, clip, compress, crop, cull, curtail, cut, cut away,
      cut back, cut down, cut in two, cut off, cut out, cut prices, damp,
      dampen, decline, decorticate, decrease, deduct, deflate,
      depreciate, depress, devaluate, dichotomize, diminish, dissever,
      dive, dock, downgrade, eliminate, enucleate, eradicate, except,
      excise, exclude, excoriate, extinguish, extirpate, fall,
      fall in price, fissure, flay, gash, give way, hack, halve, hew,
      incise, isolate, jew down, jigsaw, knock off, lance, lessen, lop,
      lower, mark down, mutilate, nip, nose-dive, peel, pick out,
      plummet, plunge, prune, reduce, rend, retrench, rive, roll back,
      root out, rule out, sag, saw, scale down, scalp, scissor,
      set apart, set aside, sever, shave, shave off, shear, shorten,
      shuck, simplify, skin, slash, slice, slit, slump, snip, split,
      stamp out, step down, strike off, strip, strip off, sunder,
      take from, take off, take out, tear, trim, truncate, tune down,
      whittle, wipe out