Trim v. t. [imp. & p. p. Trimmed p. pr. & vb. n. Trimming.]
1. To make trim; to put in due order for any purpose; to make right, neat, or pleasing; to adjust.
The hermit trimmed his little fire. --Goldsmith.
2. To dress; to decorate; to adorn; to invest; to embellish; as, to trim a hat.
A rotten building newly trimmed over. --Milton.
I was trimmed in Julia's gown. --Shak.
3. To make ready or right by cutting or shortening; to clip or lop; to curtail; as, to trim the hair; to trim a tree. “ And trimmed the cheerful lamp.”
4. Carp. To dress, as timber; to make smooth.
5. Naut. (a) To adjust, as a ship, by arranging the cargo, or disposing the weight of persons or goods, so equally on each side of the center and at each end, that she shall sit well on the water and sail well; as, to trim a ship, or a boat. (b) To arrange in due order for sailing; as, to trim the sails.
6. To rebuke; to reprove; also, to beat. [Colloq.]
To trim in Carp., to fit, as a piece of timber, into other work.
To trim up, to dress; to put in order.
I found her trimming up the diadem
On her dead mistress. --Shak.
trim
adj 1: thin and fit; "the spare figure of a marathon runner"; "a
body kept trim by exercise" [syn: spare]
2: (used of hair) neat and tidy; "a nicely kempt beard" [syn: kempt,
tidy]
3: of places; characterized by order and neatness; free from
disorder; "even the barn was shipshape"; "a trim little
sailboat" [syn: shipshape, well-kept]
4: (of persons) neat and smart in appearance; "a clean-cut and
well-bred young man"; "the trig corporal in his jaunty
cap" [syn: clean-cut, trig]
5: severely simple in line or design; "a neat tailored suit";
"tailored curtains" [syn: tailored]
n 1: a state of arrangement or appearance; "in good trim" [syn: trimness]
2: a decoration or adornment on a garment; "the trimming on a
hat"; "the trim on a shirt" [syn: trimming, passementerie]
3: attitude of an aircraft in flight when allowed to take its
own orientation
4: cutting down to the desired size or shape [syn: trimming,
clipping]
v 1: remove the edges from and cut down to the desired size;
"pare one's fingernails"; "trim the photograph"; "trim
lumber" [syn: pare]
2: decorate, as with ornaments; "trim the christmas tree";
"trim a shop window"
3: cut down on; make a reduction in; "reduce your daily fat
intake"; "The employer wants to cut back health benefits"
[syn: reduce, cut down, cut back, trim down, trim
back, cut, bring down]
4: balance in flight by regulating the control surfaces; "trim
an airplane"
5: be in equilibrium during a flight; "The airplane trimmed"
6: decorate (food), as with parsley or other ornamental foods
[syn: garnish, dress]
7: cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of; "dress the
plants in the garden" [syn: snip, clip, crop, lop,
dress, prune, cut back]
8: cut closely; "trim my beard" [syn: shave]
9: adjust (sails on a ship) so that the wind is optimally used
[also: trimming, trimmed, trimmest, trimmer]
trimmed
adj : made neat and tidy by trimming; "his neatly trimmed hair"
[syn: cut] [ant: untrimmed]