Definition

1. Noun:
   • (usually plural) A part of a fruit or vegetable that is pared or cut off; especially the skin or peel: A small piece, often the outer layer, that has been removed by cutting or peeling.
   • A thin fragment or slice (especially of wood) that has been shaved from something: A small, thin piece of material removed by a cutting or shaving action.

Usage Examples

• Noun (plural form, meaning skin/peel): She added the apple parings to the compost bin. The recipe calls for saving the potato parings to make vegetable stock.

• Noun (meaning a thin fragment): The carpenter swept up the wood parings from the floor. He examined the metal parings under a microscope.

Advanced Usage

• "Paring down" (related verb phrase): The act of reducing something by removing small parts.
• "Paring knife" (related compound noun): A small knife used for precise cutting and peeling.

Variants and Related Words

• Pare (verb): To trim or cut away the outer part of something.
• Pared (adjective): Describes something that has been trimmed or reduced.

Synonyms

• Peelings: The skin of a fruit or vegetable that has been removed.
• Shavings: Small thin pieces pared off, especially from wood or metal.
• Trimmings: Pieces cut off during the process of making something neat or of the required size.

Related Phrases

• Paring away: The process of gradually removing layers or parts.
• Nail parings: The small pieces of nail cut or filed off.

Notes on Meaning

• The word paring is most commonly used in its plural form (parings) to refer to the collective waste material from peeling or trimming.
• It can refer to the removed material from any object being shaped or reduced, not just food (e.g., wood parings, metal parings).

Noun

1. (usually plural) a part of a fruit or vegetable that is pared or cut off; especially the skin or peel
   • she could peel an apple with a single long paring
2. a thin fragment or slice (especially of wood) that has been shaved from something