trim
verb/trɪm/
/trɪm/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they trim | /trɪm/ /trɪm/ |
| he / she / it trims | /trɪmz/ /trɪmz/ |
| past simple trimmed | /trɪmd/ /trɪmd/ |
| past participle trimmed | /trɪmd/ /trɪmd/ |
| -ing form trimming | /ˈtrɪmɪŋ/ /ˈtrɪmɪŋ/ |
- trim something to make something neater, smaller, better, etc., by cutting parts from it
- to trim your hair
- to trim a hedge (back)
- (figurative) The training budget had been trimmed by £10 000.
- a neatly-trimmed beard
Extra ExamplesTopics Appearancec2, Gardensc2- We trimmed the bush into a heart shape.
- Trim the edges with a sharp knife.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- carefully
- neatly
- perfectly
- …
- get your hair trimmed
- have your hair trimmed
- to cut away unnecessary parts from something
- trim something (off something) Trim any excess fat off the meat.
- I trimmed two centimetres off the hem of the skirt.
- trim something away/off Trim away the lower leaves.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- carefully
- neatly
- perfectly
- …
- get your hair trimmed
- have your hair trimmed
- [usually passive] trim something (with something) to decorate something, especially around its edges
- gloves trimmed with fur
Word OriginOld English trymman, trymian ‘make firm, arrange’, of which the adjective appears to be a derivative. The word's history is obscure; current verb senses date from the early 16th cent. when usage became frequent and served many purposes: this is possibly explained by spoken or dialect use in the Middle English period not recorded in existing literature.
Idioms
See trim in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarytrim your sails
- to arrange the sails of a boat to suit the wind so that the boat moves fasterTopics Transport by waterc2
- to reduce your costs
Check pronunciation:
trim