prune

¹ American  

[proon] / prun /

noun

• prunes
  plural

1. a variety of plum that dries without spoiling.

2. such a plum when dried.

3. any plum.

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prune ² American  

[proon] / prun /

verb (used with object)

pruned, pruning

1. to cut or lop off (twigs, branches, or roots).

2. to cut or lop superfluous or undesired twigs, branches, or roots from; trim.

3. to rid or clear of (anything superfluous or undesirable).

4. to remove (anything considered superfluous or undesirable).

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prune ³ American  

[proon] / prun /

verb (used with object)

pruned, pruning

1. Archaic. to preen.

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prune ¹ British  

/ pruːn /

noun

1. a purplish-black partially dried fruit of any of several varieties of plum tree

2. slang a dull, uninteresting, or foolish person

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prune ² British  

/ pruːn /

verb

1. to remove (dead or superfluous twigs, branches, etc) from (a tree, shrub, etc), esp by cutting off

2. to remove (anything undesirable or superfluous) from (a book, etc)

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prune ³ British  

/ pruːn /

verb

1. an archaic word for preen 1

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prune Idioms  

1. see full of beans, def. 2.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prunability
  noun
• pruner
  noun
• prunable
  adjective
• unprunable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• prunes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of prune¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English prune, pruna, prum “plum, dried plum, prune,” from Old French prune, pronne, prume, from unrecorded Vulgar Latin prūna, neuter plural (taken as feminine singular) of Latin prūnum “plum,” from Greek proû(m)non, from a language of ancient Anatolia, where the tree and its fruit originated; see also plum

Origin of prune²

First recorded in 1400–50; from Middle English prouynen, from Middle French prougner, from Old French prooignier, proignier, poroindre “to cut back (vines); prune”; further origin uncertain; perhaps from unrecorded Vulgar Latin prōrotundiāre “to make round, cut in a rounded shape”; perhaps a variant of French provigner “to layer vines,” a derivative of provain “scion,” from Latin propāgin-, stem of propāgō; see origin at propagate; see also rotund ( def. )

Origin of prune³

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English prunen, pruynen, proy(g)nen, from Old French poroign-, present stem of poroindre, equivalent to por- (from Latin pro-) + oindre “to anoint”; see origin at pro- ¹, unguent; see also preen ¹

Explanation

To prune means to clip, crop, cut back, and weed out. Pruning usually happens to overgrown trees and bushes, but can also be helpful for wild eyebrows and guest lists that are too long. You may have also heard of another form of prune: the kind you eat. But other than dried plums, the word is generally used in verb form to describe giving something a much needed trim. Gardeners prune plants, cutting back dead branches and weak parts so they can thrive and grow better. Companies prune budgets to cut back on unnecessary spending. And you might need to prune your baseball hat collection if you're running out of places to put them.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prune prunes pruned pruning

“These crews don’t have the time to delicately prune each tree. I finally get it, after being a crank to some of them over the years.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

Those bushes aren’t going to prune themselves, but they can wait.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 1, 2026

Trees and plants are well-manicured: officials prune, shape and clear the shrubs regularly, and parks are governed by an elaborate rulebook that includes bans on activities like cycling, skating and kite-flying, depending on the park.

From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026

Arnold wasn’t afraid to prune the portfolio either.

From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026

“You must prune yours, must you not, to keep it healthy? Cut away those parts that threaten the health of the rest.”

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

For maintenance, Smee says he prunes once each season, four times a year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026

"Then, the cell quickly prunes and filters many of those loops out when it enters G1."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2025

Dr Dimidi recommends eating two or three kiwis throughout the day or 8-10 prunes to improve constipation.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2025

Many Sonoma growers had historically considered grapes a crop of last resort, compared with more profitable apples, prunes and olives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2025

He opened a can of prunes and they passed it between them.

From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

But no one expected a live demonstration, and certainly not from one of the esteemed artists featured within the museum’s pristinely pruned collection.

From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2026

Having pruned the administrative state and cut red tape, experts say Lam will focus on spurring private sector growth and digital and technological progress.

From Barron's ● Jan. 18, 2026

Every few months, she pruned items from her closet and made a trip to the buy counter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025

Thousands of trees across the city have been reinforced or pruned to prevent them from falling.

From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2025

“Uncle Jim should have pruned them back when spring started, but he probably wasn’t up to it by then.”

From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones

Is Microsoft laying off 3,200 employees from the Xbox division just a new boss coming in and pruning an overgrown asset, or is it a sign that console gaming is coming to the end?

From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026

Shafer noticed he could wear a T-shirt while pruning trees instead of the usual hooded sweatshirt and knitted hat.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026

They’re pruning good investors who had a down year and keeping mediocre ones who got lucky.

From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026

Then I threw my back out lifting a 50-pound bag of Quikrete, I nearly fell off the ladder pruning trees, plumbing began to look unappealing and everything took longer than anticipated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

He sets to work pruning the deadwood like a sculptor.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Related Words

• cut back
• shave
• shear
• shorten
• snip