pruning

[ proo-ning ]

noun

1. the act or practice of cutting or lopping off undesired twigs, branches, or roots:

   Some pruning of your tea roses during the summer is useful to encourage growth and flowers.

2. the act or practice of getting rid of undesirable elements or excess:

   You can do this pruning of emails for an hour a day till you're down to an empty inbox.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pruning¹

First recorded in 1540–50; prun(e) ²( def ) + -ing ¹( def )

Example Sentences

For landscapers rushing from one site to another, it’s a lot simpler and quicker to just top the crape myrtle, often with that precision-pruning instrument we call a chain saw.

From Washington Post

You can simply spin the dial until the tool feels most comfortable for you, then prune away.

From Popular-Science

When I started graduate school, my adviser told me that the best work would prune the tree of knowledge, rather than grow it.

From Quanta Magazine

Our brains prune away some connections and strengthen others.

From Science News For Students

This winter, Tolenas is offering a new 2020 Port, a young, 100% Zinfandel ruby port harvested from dry-farmed, head-pruned vines.

From Fortune

Lawmaking by legislatures is also a one-way ratchet—Legislators get credit for passing laws, not pruning them.

From The Daily Beast

Pruning them, Peterson explains, is a science and a dying art.

From The Daily Beast

He enthusiastically showed off his pruning technique for me and lunch with him was required.

From The Daily Beast

Each one represents the endpoint of a long process of winnowing, pruning and perfecting, driven entirely by the market.

From The Daily Beast

I had a couple of bulletins on pruning in my pocket, with pictures of old trees remorselessly headed down.

From Project Gutenberg

That afternoon I went back to my orchard, got out my shiny and sharp new double-edged pruning saw, and sawed till both arms ached.

From Project Gutenberg

But our old trees, in spite of (or perhaps because of) my spring pruning, were doing fairly well.

From Project Gutenberg

The trees were now beginning to show the good result of pruning and a regular irrigation.

From Project Gutenberg

She was pruning a rose-bush with Bub's penknife, and when she heard him coming she wheeled, quivering.

From Project Gutenberg