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 
trim 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