pare down

By paring down the original indictment, Smith has also made it more likely the case goes to trial, ever.

Like Reagan and Thatcher, he came to power promising to pare down government.

The capture of the unlucky trio and around 30 others -– trapped in other parts of the town — slightly pared down that total.

They also reveal a secret of the craft, namely that you can make an image very evocative by paring down its context in the right way.

"But Jack Smith still has one trick up his sleeve, I think, which is to pare down the indictment and use only the things that are clearly private acts here."