noun
prune
proon
noun
1
A dried plum.
"She added a handful of prunes to the oatmeal."
verb
1
To cut back branches from a tree or shrub to keep it healthy or shaped.
"He pruned the rose bushes back in early spring."
"The gardener pruned the hedge into a neat rectangle."
2
To remove unnecessary or excess parts from something, such as text, data, or a list.
"The editor pruned the report down to just the essential points."
3
To become wrinkled, as skin does after being in water too long.
"Her fingers had pruned after the long bath."
How to Use Prune
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither a dried plum, or the act of trimming away excess (branches, text, wrinkled fingers).
Common pairings
prune a tree
prune the list
fingers prune up
Word Forms
pruned past tense, pruned past tense, prunes plural, prunes singular, prunes singular
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Etymology
From Old French prune, from Vulgar Latin *pruna, ultimately from Ancient Greek proumnon, "plum" — prune and plum are actually the same word, borrowed at different times.