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.
The letter represents another bid by Democrats to push the administration to pressure Israel to pare back its attacks in Lebanon. —Ellen Mitchell, The Hill, 1 Nov. 2024 As for accessories, Steinfeld chose to pare back certain elements. —Julia Teti, WWD, 31 Oct. 2024 Part of his strategy involves paring down the menu to lighten the load for baristas while improving speed, service, and accuracy. —Francisco Velasquez, Quartz, 29 Oct. 2024 London time, paring gains after hitting a fresh all-time high of $2,732.73 earlier in the session. —Sam Meredith,holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 21 Oct. 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 22 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
little chihuahua dressing like a turkey for thanksgiving
Giving Thanks Quiz Decide which words express gratitude and which gi...