Adjacent Words

Prune definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PRU'NE, v.t.
1. To lop or cut off the superfluous branches of trees, to make them bear better fruit or grow higher, or to give them a more handsome and regular appearance.
2. To clear from any thing superfluous; to dress; to trim.
His royal bird
Prunes the immortal wing, and cloys his beak.
PRUNE, v.i. To dress; to prink; a ludicrous word.
PRUNE, n. [L. prunum; in Latin prunus is a plum tree; Gr. the fruit.] A plum, or a dried plum.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: dried plum v
1: cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of; "dress the plants in the garden" [syn: snip, clip, crop, trim, lop, dress, prune, cut back]
2: weed out unwanted or unnecessary things; "We had to lose weight, so we cut the sugar from our diet" [syn: cut, prune, rationalize, rationalise]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, plum, from Latin prunum — more at plum Date: 14th century a plum dried or capable of drying without fermentation II. verb (pruned; pruning) Etymology: Middle English prouynen, probably ultimately from Old French prooignier, alteration of *porrooignier, from por- completely (from Latin pro-) + rooignier to cut, prune, from Vulgar Latin *rotundiare to cut around, from Latin rotundus round — more at pro-, rotund Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. a. to reduce especially by eliminating superfluous matter <pruned the text> <prune the budget> b. to remove as superfluous <prune away all ornamentation> 2. to cut off or cut back parts of for better shape or more fruitful growth <prune the branches> intransitive verb to cut away what is unwanted or superfluous • pruner noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 a dried plum. 2 colloq. a silly or disliked person. Etymology: ME f. OF ult. f. L prunum f. Gk prou(m)non plum 2. v.tr. 1 a (often foll. by down) trim (a tree etc.) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches etc. b (usu. foll. by off, away) lop (branches etc.) from a tree. 2 reduce (costs etc.) (must try to prune expenses). 3 a (often foll. by of) clear (a book etc.) of superfluities. b remove (superfluities). Phrases and idioms: pruning-hook a long-handled hooked cutting tool used for pruning. Derivatives: pruner n. Etymology: ME prouyne f. OF pro(o)ignier ult. f. L rotundus ROUND

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prune Prune, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pruned; p. pr. & vb. n. Pruning.] [OE. proine, probably fr. F. provigner to lay down vine stocks for propagation; hence, probably, the meaning, to cut away superfluous shoots. See Provine.] 1. To lop or cut off the superfluous parts, branches, or shoots of; to clear of useless material; to shape or smooth by trimming; to trim: as, to prune trees; to prune an essay. --Thackeray. Taking into consideration how they [laws] are to be pruned and reformed. --Bacon. Our delightful task To prune these growing plants, and tend these flowers. --Milton. 2. To cut off or cut out, as useless parts. Horace will our superfluous branches prune. --Waller. 3. To preen; to prepare; to dress. --Spenser. His royal bird Prunes the immortal wing and cloys his beak. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prune Prune, v. i. To dress; to prink; -used humorously or in contempt. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prune Prune, n. [F. prune, from L. prunum a plum. See Plum.] A plum; esp., a dried plum, used in cookery; as, French or Turkish prunes; California prunes. German prune (Bot.), a large dark purple plum, of oval shape, often one-sided. It is much used for preserving, either dried or in sirup. Prune tree. (Bot.) (a) A tree of the genus Prunus (P. domestica), which produces prunes. (b) The West Indian tree, Prunus occidentalis. South African prune (Bot.), the edible fruit of a sapindaceous tree (Pappea Capensis).

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(prunes, pruning, pruned) 1. A prune is a dried plum. N-COUNT 2. When you prune a tree or bush, you cut off some of the branches so that it will grow better the next year. You have to prune a bush if you want fruit... There is no best way to prune. VERB: V n, V • Prune back means the same as prune. Apples, pears and cherries can be pruned back when they've lost their leaves. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P 3. If you prune something, you cut out all the parts that you do not need. Firms are cutting investment and pruning their product ranges. VERB: V n • Prune back means the same as prune. The company has pruned back its workforce by 20,000 since 1989. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron)

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Lop, trim, clip, dock. 2. Dress, trim, preen. II. n. Dried plum.

Foolish Dictionary

A plum that has seen better days

Moby Thesaurus

abbreviate, abridge, abscind, abstract, amputate, annihilate, ax, backset, ban, bar, bisect, blockhead, bob, boil down, brash, butcher, capsulize, carve, chop, chump, cleave, clip, compress, condense, contract, crop, cull, cultivate, culture, curtail, cut, cut away, cut back, cut down, cut in two, cut off, cut off short, cut out, cut short, delve, dichotomize, dig, dimwit, dissever, dock, dolt, dope, dress, dumbbell, elide, eliminate, enucleate, epitomize, eradicate, except, excise, exclude, extinguish, extirpate, fallow, fertilize, fissure, force, foreshorten, gash, hack, halve, harrow, hew, hoe, idiot, ignoramus, incise, isolate, jigsaw, knock off, lance, list, lop, moron, mow, mulch, mutilate, nip, pare, peel, pick out, plow, poll, pollard, rake, reap, recap, recapitulate, reduce, rend, retrench, rive, root out, rule out, saw, scissor, set apart, set aside, sever, shave, shear, shorten, skive, slash, slice, slit, snip, snub, spade, split, stamp out, strike off, strip, strip off, stunt, sum up, summarize, sunder, synopsize, take in, take off, take out, tear, telescope, thin, thin out, till, till the soil, trim, truncate, weed, weed out, whittle, wipe out, work