pare down

Verb

Meaning

decrease gradually or bit by bit

Source: WordNet

Synonyms

pare whittle lower cut prune minify reduce limit bridge contract decrease abstract crop minimize restrict
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Antonyms

continue develop add expand extend enhance
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Hypernyms

minify decrease lessen

Examples

My favorite form is the short story. From an aesthetics stand point you really have to pare down to the bone. You can't write a throw-away scene. Roger Zelazny

I have learned to pare down what I do and still be effective and strong in a role. Mira Sorvino

I don't pare down much. I write the beginning of a story in a notebook and it comes out very close to what it will be in the end. There is not much deliberateness about it. Lydia Davis

Composing gives me a chance to work in multiple dimensions and helps me pare down my melodies into what is essential. Learning new skills has always energized me and scoring has opened up a world of sonic possibilities. Liz Phair

It is imperative that we should not pare down the meaning of a dream to fit some narrow doctrine. ... No language exists that cannot be misused. Carl Jung

With a film, you have to pare down and take stuff out and squish it all down into a 110 page script. Melissa Rosenberg

Close letter words and terms

pardy pare pare away pare off pare to the bone Parece Vela