Cut fruit, say (4)
I believe the answer is:
pare
'cut' is the definition.
(I know that pare is a type of cut)
'fruit say' is the wordplay.
'fruit' becomes 'pear' (pear is a kind of fruit).
'say' shows a homophone (sound like).
'pear' sounds like 'PARE'.
(Other definitions for pare that I've seen before include "Whittle" , "Trim by cutting" , "Shave, say, pencil" , "Trim off in layers" , "Trim by slicing" .)