Definition of "paring" [par•ing]

• Something, such as a skin or peel, that has been pared off. (noun)
• The act of removing the outer covering or skin. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "They eventually will begin paring down their list to a second group of finalists and conduct a second round of interviews, Jeff Wilpon, the franchise's chief operating officer, said in a conference call."
• "On the contrary, the problem I had was in paring down the incredible wealth of stories I found about gun-toting women on both sides of the law."
• "If I can't get the Menaje, I guess we will just need to be more ruthless in paring down stuff, and maybe be subject to customs duty on what we can't part with."