pare

1. (transitive) To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a cutting device, typically a knife.Examples: "Victor pared some apples in preparation to make a tart."transitive

2. (transitive, often with down or back) To reduce, diminish or trim gradually something as if by cutting off.Examples: "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.”"; "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."transitive

3. (Ireland, slang) To sharpen a pencil.Irelandslang