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⇱ prune - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

prune

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UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈpruːn/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/prun/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(pro̅o̅n)

Inflections of 'prune' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
prunes
v 3rd person singular
pruning
v pres p
pruned
v past
pruned
v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
prune1 /prun/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. Plant Biologyany plum when it is dried.

prune2 /prun/USA pronunciation   v. [~ + object], pruned, prun•ing. 
  1. to cut or chop off extra or unwanted twigs, branches, or roots from;
    trim:She pruned the trees in her garden.
  2. Botanyto cut or chop off:She pruned a few branches off her trees.
  3. to remove (anything considered extra or unnecessary):pruning surplus staff members.
prun•er, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
prune1  (pro̅o̅n),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. Plant Biologya variety of plum that dries without spoiling.
  2. Plant Biologysuch a plum when dried.
  3. Plant Biologyany plum.
  • Greek proû(m)non plum1
  • Latin prūna, plural (taken as feminine singular) of prūnum plum
  • Middle French
  • late Middle English 1300–50

prune2  (pro̅o̅n),USA pronunciation v.t., pruned, prun•ing. 
  1. Botanyto 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).
  • Latin propāgin-, stem of propāgō; see propagate)
  • Middle French proognier to prune (vines), variant of provigner, derivative of provain scion (
  • late Middle English prouynen 1400–50
prun′a•ble, adj. 
prun′a•bil′i•ty, n. 
prun′er, n. 

prune3  (pro̅o̅n),USA pronunciation v.t., pruned, prun•ing. 
  1. Animal Behavior[Archaic.]to preen.
  • Latin unguere); see preen1
  • Latin pro- pro-1) + oindre to anoint (
  • Old French poroign-, present stem of poroindre, equivalent. to por- (
  • Middle English prunen, pruynen, proy(g)nen 1350–1400
prun′a•ble, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
prune /pruːn/ n
  1. a purplish-black partially dried fruit of any of several varieties of plum tree
  2. slang chiefly Brit a dull, uninteresting, or foolish person
Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French prune, from Latin prūnum plum, from Greek prounon
prune /pruːn/ vb
  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)
Etymology: 15th Century: from Old French proignier to clip, probably from provigner to prune vines, from provain layer (of a plant), from Latin propāgo a cuttingˈprunable adj ˈpruner n
prune /pruːn/ vb
  1. an archaic word for preen1
'prune' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Collocations: prune [colored, flavored], eat prunes, prunes to help you [poop, go number two], more...

🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "prune" in the title:


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