What does parring mean?
Parring means shaving or cutting hair, ordinarily with a razor, and in older or less common usage can also mean trimming material by removing small pieces. The form is the present participle of the old verb “par” and is now much less usual than “shaving” or “trimming.” Its appearance in modern writing often signals deliberately traditional, historical, or archaic language, although it remains intelligible in British and American English. A barber might historically describe the service as a close parring of the head, while a person preparing fruit or timber would more naturally use the verb “pare.” The word is therefore useful chiefly as a survival from an earlier stage of English vocabulary, when “par” could cover several forms of careful cutting or shaving. In everyday speech, choosing a more specific modern verb is usually clearer.
To shave or cut hair close to the skin, especially with a razor.
"He carefully went to the barber for a close parring of his head and neck."
This is an uncommon and generally old-fashioned usage; contemporary speakers usually say “shaving.”
To trim or remove small pieces from a material, especially by cutting.
"She was parring the rough edges from the timber."
This sense is also uncommon and is usually expressed today by “paring” or “trimming.”
Once a standard verb, “par” survives most visibly in the unusually old-fashioned word “parring”—a neat reminder that English vocabulary preserves fashions long after they leave ordinary speech.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does parring come from?
Parring is formed from the old English verb “par” by adding the present-participle ending -ing. “Par” is generally traced to Old French parer, ultimately connected with Latin parare, a verb associated with preparing or arranging; its English cutting and shaving senses developed in the Middle English period. The verb has largely been replaced by “shave” and “pare,” but remains recognizable in the inflected form “parring.”
Related word forms
How parring is actually used
Parring is now uncommon in contemporary English; “shaving” is the usual term for removing hair with a razor, while “paring” is preferred for trimming wood, fruit, or other material.
Easily confused with parring
Parring normally means shaving or clipping hair, whereas paring more commonly means trimming or removing a thin layer from something such as wood, fruit, or vegetables.
Parring is a hair-cutting or shaving process, while parsing is the grammatical analysis of text or speech.