From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpruneprune1 /pruːn/ verb [transitive] 1 (also prune something ↔ back)DLG to cut off some of the branches of a tree or bush to make it grow better The roses need pruning.2 especially British EnglishCUT 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.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
prune• The state has pruned $275 million from this year's budget.• It can be found in baking a cake, pruning a tree, or holding a children's party.• Miniature roses do not need much pruning and are ideal for planting in pots.• What's the best time of the year for pruning apple trees?• Heavy pruning can promote vigorous new growth, which can increase susceptibility to the disease.• He has ruthlessly pruned his original plans for a quick dash to the top.• Major pruning is done in late winter.• Time also has worked wonders, pruning many of the bad investigative reporters and retaining many of the good ones.• In the intermediate zone between a population boom and a population bust, this superfluous genetic material is pruned out.• Red dogwoods should be pruned regularly.• Would it be possible for them also to prune this tree hard back so the light can be seen.• The role of government in macroeconomic management had to be pruned to a bare minimum.pruneprune2 noun [countable] DFa dried plum, often cooked before it is eaten stewed prunesExamples from the Corpus
prune• One of the most important discriminators between plums and prunes is what their age means to them.• Besides, it has prunes in it, did you know that?• Deep lines grooved her prune of a face.• Put the prunes in an earthenware oven dish, with the wine and enough water to cover them.• An image that captures the dichotomy of possibilities in getting older is the plum versus the prune.• The prunes were good but with three extra stones in the juice Christopher wondered who might have been there before him.Origin prune1 (1300-1400) Old French proignier, probably from provigner “to breed plants from shoots”, from Latin propago; → PROPAGATE prune2 (1300-1400) French “plum”, from Latin prunus 