prune
[verb]
Synonyms: cut, clip, dock, reduce, shape, shorten, snip, trim

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Related Words: brash, lop, thin, eliminate, exclude

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. prune¹ /pruːn/ verb [transitive]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Old French; Origin: proignier, probably from provigner 'to breed plants from shoots', from Latin propago; ⇒ propagate]

1. (also prune something ↔ back) to cut off some of the branches of a tree or bush to make it grow better:
The roses need pruning.

2. especially British English to make something smaller by removing parts that you do not need or want:
The company is pruning staff in order to reduce costs.
The original version of the text has been pruned quite a bit.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. prune² noun [countable]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: French; Origin: 'plum', from Latin prunus]
a dried plum, often cooked before it is eaten:
stewed prunes

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

prune
verb
ADV. hard, heavily, savagely, severely Prune the trees hard in the winter. (figurative) Local councils could find their housing budgets severely pruned.
back The roses had been pruned back savagely.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

prune
̈ɪpru:n
See: full of beans or full of prunes

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲