prune

[ proon ]

/ prun /

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See synonyms for: prune / pruning / pruner on Thesaurus.com

noun

a variety of plum that dries without spoiling.

such a plum when dried.

any plum.

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Origin of prune

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

Words nearby prune

prudery, Prudhoe Bay, Prud'hon, prudish, pruinose, prune, prunella, prunelle, pruning hook, pruning shears, prunt

Other definitions for prune (2 of 3)

prune²

[ proon ]

/ prun /

verb (used with object), pruned, prun·ing.

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

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

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

to remove (anything considered superfluous or undesirable).

Origin of prune

First recorded in 1400–50; 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

OTHER WORDS FROM prune

prun·a·ble, adjectiveprun·a·bil·i·ty, nounpruner, nounun·prun·a·ble, adjective

Other definitions for prune (3 of 3)

prune³

[ proon ]

/ prun /

verb (used with object), pruned, prun·ing.

Archaic. to preen.

Origin of prune

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 preen¹

OTHER WORDS FROM prune

prun·a·ble, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use prune in a sentence

“State-of-the-art search engines use ranking pipelines in which an efficient first-stage uses a query to fetch an initial set of documents from the document collection, and one or more re-ranking algorithms improve and prune the ranking.”
Could Google passage indexing be leveraging BERT?|Dawn Anderson|October 29, 2020|Search Engine Land
If you’ve picked the right pages to prune and promote, you should see a nice lift in keyword rankings where it matters.
PageRank sculpting: How to get more from your links|Manick Bhan|October 26, 2020|Search Engine Watch
It’s unclear whether those whom the state fails to prune are entitled to vote after all — or may face prosecution if they do.
In Florida, the Gutting of a Landmark Law Leaves Few Felons Likely to Vote|by Lawrence Mower and Langston Taylor, Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times|October 7, 2020|ProPublica
I’ve been seeking out videos on how to get raspberries to fruit and how to properly prune roses, which is far more entertaining than Netflix.
11 Great Microadventures You Can Do Now|The Editors|October 1, 2020|Outside Online

I think for some of us, maybe it will teach us to prune some of the unnecessary trips in our lives.
What Does Covid-19 Mean for Cities (and Marriages)? (Ep. 410)|Stephen J. Dubner|March 26, 2020|Freakonomics
This was the case with Prune Nourry, a young French sculptress who went to India to create a piece of art interpreting women.
Pharrell’s ‘GIRLS’ Exhibit Stars...Pharrell?|Liza Foreman|May 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We made the prune based Chocolate Fudge Torte at the bakery and it left everyone slack-jawed.
Fresh Picks|Matt Lewis Renato Poliafito|October 1, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Whereupon Hard concluded by biting into a large piece of prune pie.
The Idyl of Twin Fires|Walter Prichard Eaton
I used to prune a bit, too, in spare moments, so that by the end of the summer considerable renovation had been accomplished.
The Idyl of Twin Fires|Walter Prichard Eaton
He tells me the right way to plant potatoes and prune apple-trees, and our communion is blest with eupeptic content.
The Affable Stranger|Peter McArthur
To cut or prune gooseberry and currant-trees is very simple.
The Book of Sports:|William Martin
The prune trees took up the glad news and whispered it to the apricot trees, "It is a boy."
A California Girl|Edward Eldridge

British Dictionary definitions for prune (1 of 3)

prune¹

/ (pruːn) /

noun

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

slang, mainly British a dull, uninteresting, or foolish person

Word Origin for prune

C14: from Old French prune, from Latin prūnum plum, from Greek prounon

British Dictionary definitions for prune (2 of 3)

prune²

/ (pruːn) /

verb

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

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

Derived forms of prune

prunable, adjectivepruner, noun

Word Origin for prune

C15: from Old French proignier to clip, probably from provigner to prune vines, from provain layer (of a plant), from Latin propāgo a cutting

British Dictionary definitions for prune (3 of 3)

prune³

/ (pruːn) /

verb

an archaic word for preen 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with prune

prune

see full of beans, def. 2.

prune

Origin of prune

Words nearby prune

Other definitions for prune (2 of 3)

Origin of prune

OTHER WORDS FROM prune

Other definitions for prune (3 of 3)

Origin of prune

OTHER WORDS FROM prune

Words related to prune

How to use prune in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for prune (1 of 3)

Word Origin for prune

British Dictionary definitions for prune (2 of 3)

Derived forms of prune

Word Origin for prune

British Dictionary definitions for prune (3 of 3)

Other Idioms and Phrases with prune