You'd be justified in raising an objection about the last of these examples.
Bottle is a synonym for courage all right.
As with all cryptic clues, you are supplied with a definition. In this case, the indicator tells you that the cryptic clue is alluding to a word that sounds like the answer. To pare something is to cut it. There are hundreds of these and you can only really spot them through practice. Here's a clue for you to solve.