pruning shears
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of pruning shears
First recorded in 1800–10
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Instead the final four candidates for the job were a range of eager submissives, each straining to appear enthusiastic to pick up the pruning shears and start cutting rates by the bunch:
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026
Citizen scientists are the eyes, ears and pruning shears of TACF.
From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2023
During those searches, two blue crowbars, pruning shears and a cutting tool were found in a nearby pond and in the Paar River, the statement said.
From New York Times ● Jul. 21, 2023
“Everything is fraught with uncertainty right now,” she said as she snipped away with a pair of pruning shears.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2022
He wore a pair of stained olive-green overalls without a shirt underneath, and he had a broad utility belt holding pruning shears, twine, a hand rake, and a trowel.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
