trim down to size

English

Verb

trim down to size (third-person singular simple present trims down to size, present participle trimming down to size, simple past and past participle trimmed down to size)

  1. Synonym of cut down to size.
    • 1962, W. Cleon Skousen, So You Want to Raise a Boy?, page 106:
      If parents try to trim a 7-year-old egoist down to size with sarcastic quips or disparaging comments, they only add to his sense of inferiority and thereby agitate his continued construction of a defensive front.
    • 2005, Louis L'Amour, To Tame a Land, page 102:
      I seen him trim Ollie Burdette down to size and run him out of town.
    • 2012, Daniel W. Patterson, The True Image, page 296:
      Someone may have wanted to trim a local dandy down to size.
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