«pare down»

pare down а) обстругивать; This door has swollen in the wet weather andwill have to be pared down with a sharp knife. б) сокращать, урезывать; Theuniversities and colleges have been asked to pare down their spending to theleast possible. The number of Ministers has been pared down by a third.

1) обстругивать This door has swollen in the wet weather and will have to be pared down. ≈ Дверь раздалась в мокрую погоду, ее нужно было обстругать.
2) сокращать, урезывать The number of Ministers has been pared down by a third. ≈ Число министров было сокращено на треть.