pare

Etymology

From Middle English paren, from Old French parer (“to arrange, prepare, trim”), from Latin parō (“I prepare, arrange; I provide, furnish; I resolve, purpose”) (related to pariō (“I bear, I give birth to; I spawn, produce, beget; I procure, acquire”)), from a Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to bring forward, bring forth”).

verb

1. (transitive) To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a cutting device, typically a knife.
   Victor pared some apples in preparation to make a tart.
2. (transitive, often with down or back) To reduce, diminish or trim gradually something as if by cutting off.
   Albert had to pare his options down by disregarding anything beyond his meager budget.
   Also referring to the deeds of certain Border Ruffians, he said, rapidly paring away his speech, like an experienced soldier, keeping a reserve of force and meaning, “They had a perfect right to be hung.” 1859, Henry David Thoreau, A Plea for Captain John Brown
   From May 29 another 10 min. are being pared from the southbound journey, and the time over the 504.4 miles from Paris to Hendaye will come down to 6 hr. 58 min., an average of 72.4 m.p.h. with two intermediate stops. 1960 April, “The European Summer Timetables”, in Trains Illustrated, page 223
3. To trim the hoof of a horse.
4. (Ireland, slang) To sharpen a pencil.