A parer has two distinct lives depending on where you are. In standard English, it's a small kitchen tool used for peeling or trimming fruit and vegetables — a paring knife or similar implement. In Irish English, however, a parer is simply a pencil sharpener — the handheld kind you use to put a point on a pencil. The Irish usage is charming and practical: 'pare' meaning to shave or trim carries over naturally. Both meanings share the same cutting-down logic, just applied to very different objects.
She rummaged through her pencil case looking for a parer so she could finish her sketch before class started.
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A tool used to pare things.
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(Ireland) A pencil sharpener.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.