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# pare

«pare» in Mova's judaism dictionary: **To cut away the thin outer skin or edge of something…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (pare, pares, pared, paring)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To cut away the thin outer skin or edge of something, such as fruit or nails, with a knife. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/pare/#m1)

2) To make something smaller bit by bit: «pare down», «pare back» costs or a list. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/pare/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: A captive woman taken as a wife must shave her head and pare her nails. Interpretation: Some commentators read this as a sign of mourning and of giving up her old life. Others read it as making her less attractive, so that the man would think twice. In the primary lessons: In cooking, you pare an apple or a potato with a paring knife. In everyday and business talk, «pare down» means cut down to the important parts: pare down a story, pare back spending. Phrases: «pare an apple», «paring knife», «pare down», «pare back».

### examples

- then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; (Torah DEU.21.12, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/pare/#x1)
- Mum pared the apple in one long curly strip. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/pare/#x2)
- Use a paring knife to pare the potatoes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/pare/#x3)
- We had to pare down our list of party guests. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/pare/#x4)
- The school pared back spending on trips this year. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/pare/#x5)
- She pared her story down to 300 words. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/pare/#x6)
- Grandpa pared his fingernails on the porch. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/pare/#x7)

### note

Past «pared». Homophones: pair (two), pear (the fruit) — all sound the same! Trap: «pare» (cut thinly) vs «peel» (more common for fruit). Safety: knives need adult help.

### In the corpora

- [then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/DEU.573/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «pare» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/pare/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.