The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Pare \Pare\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pared; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Paring.] [F. parer to pare, as a horse's hoofs, to dress or
   curry, as, leather, to clear, as anchors or cables, to parry,
   ward off, fr. L. parare to prepare. Cf. Empire, Parade,
   Pardon, Parry, Prepare.]
   1. To cut off, or shave off, the superficial substance or
      extremities of; as, to pare an apple; to pare a horse's
      hoof.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To remove; to separate; to cut or shave, as the skin,
      rind, or outside part, from anything; -- followed by off
      or away; as, to pare off the rind of fruit; to pare away
      redundancies.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Fig.: To diminish the bulk of; to reduce; to lessen.
      [1913 Webster]

            The king began to pare a little the privilege of
            clergy.                               --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

pare
    v 1: decrease gradually or bit by bit [syn: pare, pare down]
    2: cut small bits or pare shavings from; "whittle a piece of
       wood" [syn: whittle, pare]
    3: strip the skin off; "pare apples" [syn: skin, peel,
       pare]
    4: remove the edges from and cut down to the desired size; "pare
       one's fingernails"; "trim the photograph"; "trim lumber"
       [syn: pare, trim]