GDict

prune

pru:n12 senses · 156 ms
Level C1GRETOEFL
local copy0 msLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0Wiktionary contributors
noun/pɹuːn//pɹun//pɹʉːn/
  1. 1

    A plum.obsolete

  2. 2

    The dried, wrinkled fruit of certain species of plum.

  3. 3

    Something wrinkly like a prune.figuratively

    • We are not free when we are in the grip of the false conditioning that decrees that we need sex. We are not free if we believe the culture's ominous warnings that we will become "horny" (what a callous, offensive word) and frustrated and ne
  4. 4

    An old woman, especially a wrinkly one.slang

syn. old woman

verb/pɹuːn//pɹun//pɹʉːn/
  1. 1

    To become wrinkled like a dried plum, as the fingers and toes do when kept submerged in water.informalintransitive

    • I hardly left that spot in my pool that month even when my fingers pruned and chlorine dried out my skin.
verb/pɹuːn//pɹun//pɹʉːn/
  1. 1

    To remove excess material from a tree or shrub; to trim, especially to make more healthy or productive.transitive

    • A good grape grower will prune the vines once a year.
  2. 2

    To cut down or shorten (by the removal of unnecessary material).figurativelytransitive

    • to prune a budget, or an essay
  3. 3

    To remove (something unnecessary) for the sake of cutting down or shortening that which it was previously part of.transitive

    • When internal dissension and a decline in popularity set in, Johnny was pruned from the Crests.
  4. 4

    To remove participation status from or contributed material attributed to users usually deemed inactive or undesirable from an interactive computer service or website for the sake of housekeeping.Internettransitive

  5. 5

    To remove unnecessary branches from a tree data structure.transitive

  6. 6

    To trim the feathers with the beak.obsolete

  7. 7

    To preen; to prepare; to dress.obsolete

    • She gins her feathers fowle disfigured Prowdly to prune, and sett on every side.
    • For 'tis observed of every scribbling man, / He grows a fop as fast as e'er he can; / Prunes up, and asks his oracle, the glass, / If pink or purple best become his face.

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