ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Prune

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /pɹuːn/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Prune is a noun meaning The dried, wrinkled fruit of certain species of plum.

Meaning

The dried, wrinkled fruit of certain species of plum.

More Meanings

  1. (figurative) Something wrinkly like a prune.
  2. (intransitive, informal) To become wrinkled like a dried plum, as the fingers and toes do when kept submerged in water.
  3. (transitive, horticulture) To remove excess material from a tree or shrub; to trim, especially to make more healthy or productive.
  4. (transitive, figuratively) To cut down or shorten (by the removal of unnecessary material).
  5. (transitive) To remove (something unnecessary) for the sake of cutting down or shortening that which it was previously part of.
  6. (obsolete) A plum.
  7. (slang) An old woman, especially a wrinkly one.

Example Sentences

to prune a budget, or an essay
A good grape grower will prune the vines once a year.
taking into consideration how they [laws] are to be pruned and reformed
Our delightful task / To prune these growing plants, and tend these flowers.

Word Forms

Synonyms for prune

Depending on context, synonyms include trim, crop, clip, cut, dress, snip.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include crop, cut, dress, snip, lop, clip.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.