the.com/trimming
The art of removing exactly enough so nothing screams and everything finally breathes.
means The act of cutting away small or excess parts to neaten, shorten, or shape something — or, as a noun, the bits cut off, or the decorative additions that finish a thing off.
from From the Old English verb 'trymman' (also 'trymian'), meaning to strengthen, make firm, prepare, or set in order — the same root that gave us 'trim' as a word for tidy and well-arranged. The leap from 'making firm and ready' to 'cutting back to neatness' came naturally: to ready a ship, a hedge, or a sail was to put it in proper order, and proper order often meant snipping off the surplus. By the time it picked up the '-ing' to name the action (and the leftovers), trimming carried both senses at once — adding finish and removing excess, two ways of arriving at the same tidy end.
- hedge math
- Boxwoods can survive 30+ years of relentless shaping
- video gold
- Editors cut 90% of footage to keep the magic
- sail term
- Trimming sails means angling them to catch wind
- penny pinch
- Coins were once trimmed for shavings of precious metal
- hoof care
- Horses need regular trimming or they go lame
topiary gardens of versailles — french palace gardens where hedges are sculpted into elaborate geometric and animal shapes, maintained since the 17th century
bonsai cultivation — japanese art form that trims and shapes miniature trees to create ancient-looking specimens, some over 800 years old
hedge laying in england — traditional countryside practice in the cotswolds and sussex where hawthorn hedgerows are partially cut and woven to create living fences