PRUNE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Prune

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verb

Prune v. t. (past & past part. pruned; pres. part. pruning)

To lop or cut off the superfluous parts, branches, or shoots of; to clear of useless material; to shape or smooth by trimming; to trim: as, to prune trees; to prune an essay. "Taking into consideration how they (laws) are to be pruned and reformed." "Our delightful task To prune these growing plants, and tend these flowers."

To cut off or cut out, as useless parts. "Horace will our superfluous branches prune."

To preen; to prepare; to dress. "His royal bird Prunes the immortal wing and cloys his beak."

Prune v. i. To dress; to prink; -used humorously or in contempt.

noun

Prune n. A plum; esp., a dried plum, used in cookery; as, French or Turkish prunes; California prunes.

German prune (Bot.), a large dark purple plum, of oval shape, often one-sided. It is much used for preserving, either dried or in sirup.

Prune tree. (Bot.)

(a)

A tree of the genus Prunus (Prunus domestica), which produces prunes.

(b)

The West Indian tree, Prunus occidentalis.

South African prune (Bot.), the edible fruit of a sapindaceous tree (Pappea Capensis).

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Etymology of 'Prune'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Prune" Quotes from Famous Books

... a height and a depth in the soul that them butter figgers can't touch—no, nor the pop-corn trees can't reach that height with their sorghum branches. It lays fur beyond the switchin' timothy tail of that seed horse or the wavin' raisen mane of that prune charger. It is a realm," sez I, "that I fear you will never stand in, ...

— Samantha at the World's Fair • Marietta Holley

... prune and flounce my perruque a little for her; there's ne'er a young fellow in the town but will do as much for a mere ...

— The Tatler, Volume 1, 1899 • George A. Aitken

... be easy to get wood. It is not. The army takes a lot of it, and those who, in ordinary winters, have wood to sell, have to keep it for themselves this year. Pere has cut down all the old trees he could find—old prune trees, old apple trees, old chestnut trees—and it is not the best of firewood. I hated to see even that done, but he claimed that he wanted to clear a couple of pieces of land, and I try to believe him. Did you ever burn green wood? If you have, ...

— On the Edge of the War Zone - From the Battle of the Marne to the Entrance of the Stars and Stripes • Mildred Aldrich

... public during the flowering season. Even a flower is not without honor, save in its own country. We have only to prepare a border of leaf mould, take up the young plant without injuring the roots or allowing them to dry, hurry them into the ground, and prune back the bush a little, to establish it in our gardens, where it will bloom freely after the second year. Lime in the soil and manure are fatal to it as well as to rhododendrons and azaleas. All they require is a mulch of leaves kept on winter and summer that their ...

— Wild Flowers Worth Knowing • Neltje Blanchan et al

... was a very busy and eventful one for Bob. Plowing time was rapidly approaching, and his uncle was anxious to have all the manure placed on the fields ready to start work early; besides, they had taken a day off at Bob's urging to prune the young orchard. On Thursday he received a large package of Farm Bulletins from the Department of Agriculture at Washington, in reply to a postcard he had sent. He had only time for a hasty glance through them, before having to lay them ...

— Hidden Treasure • John Thomas Simpson

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