prune

UK: /ˈpruːn/ US: /prun/ ,(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 © 2025

prune¹ /prun/   n. [countable]

1. Plant Biology any plum when it is dried.

prune² /prun/   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. Botany to 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 © 2025

prune¹  (pro̅o̅n), n. 

1. Plant Biology a variety of plum that dries without spoiling.
2. Plant Biology such a plum when dried.
3. Plant Biology any 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), v.t., pruned, prun•ing. 

1. Botany to 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), 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/ noun

1. a purplish-black partially dried fruit of any of several varieties of plum tree
2. a dull, uninteresting, or foolish person

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French prune, from Latin prūnum plum, from Greek prounon

prune / pruːn/ verb

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 cutting

ˈprunable adjective

ˈpruner noun

prune / pruːn/ verb

1. an archaic word for preen1