pruning

American  

[proo-ning] / ˈpru nɪŋ /

noun

• prunings
  plural

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.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• prunings
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of pruning

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pruning prunings

"We have to use this time to get things done... we're pruning the rose bushes for winter," he said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026

An arborist can inspect trees for structural issues, such as cracks, weak attachments and decay, and will provide targeted pruning recommendations as needed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

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

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

It was a normal garden shed with pruning shears, buckets, watering cans, and the accompanying assortment of cobwebs, dead bugs, and dust.

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

Nearby, prunings from a carrotwood tree lay in a parkway.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2025

The Bucket Jockey is an effective but inexpensive way to organize and easily transport your tools with a bucket for holding your prunings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2016

The move mirrors similar prunings around the country at other public colleges and universities that are reeling from steep drops in state aid.

From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2010

But in reality Sannino’s gets very few takers for its midwinter vine prunings.

From New York Times ● Dec. 2, 2010

The less skilled man cuts tendrils and severs the cut canes from each other so that the prunings may be moved from the vineyard without trouble by the "stripper."

From Manual of American Grape-Growing by U. P. Hedrick

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