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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Prune \Prune\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Pruned}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Pruning}.] [OE. proine, probably fr. F. provigner to lay down vine stocks for propagation; hence, probably, the meaning, to cut away superfluous shoots. See {Provine}.]
1. 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. --Thackeray.
Taking into consideration how they [laws] are to be pruned and reformed. --Bacon.
Our delightful task To prune these growing plants, and tend these flowers. --Milton.
2. To cut off or cut out, as useless parts.
Horace will our superfluous branches prune. --Waller.
3. To preen; to prepare; to dress. --Spenser.
His royal bird Prunes the immortal wing and cloys his beak. --Shak.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Prune \Prune\, verb (used without an object) To dress; to prink; -used humorously or in contempt. --Dryden.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Prune \Prune\, noun [F. prune, from L. prunum a plum. See {Plum}.] 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}).
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
prune
noun: dried plum
verb
1: cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of; "dress the plants in the garden" [syn: {snip}, {clip}, {crop}, {trim}, {lop}, {dress}, {cut back}]
2: weed out unwanted or unnecessary things; "We had to lose weight, so we cut the sugar from our diet" [syn: {cut}, {rationalize}, {rationalise}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
141 Moby Thesaurus words for "prune": abbreviate, abridge, abscind, abstract, amputate, annihilate, ax, backset, ban, bar, bisect, blockhead, bob, boil down, brash, butcher, capsulize, carve, chop, chump, cleave, clip, compress, condense, contract, crop, cull, cultivate, culture, curtail, cut, cut away, cut back, cut down, cut in two, cut off, cut off short, cut out, cut short, delve, dichotomize, dig, dimwit, dissever, dock, dolt, dope, dress, dumbbell, elide, eliminate, enucleate, epitomize, eradicate, except, excise, exclude, extinguish, extirpate, fallow, fertilize, fissure, force, foreshorten, gash, hack, halve, harrow, hew, hoe, idiot, ignoramus, incise, isolate, jigsaw, knock off, lance, list, lop, moron, mow, mulch, mutilate, nip, pare, peel, pick out, plow, poll, pollard, rake, reap, recap, recapitulate, reduce, rend, retrench, rive, root out, rule out, saw, scissor, set apart, set aside, sever, shave, shear, shorten, skive, slash, slice, slit, snip, snub, spade, split, stamp out, strike off, strip, strip off, stunt, sum up, summarize, sunder, synopsize, take in, take off, take out, tear, telescope, thin, thin out, till, till the soil, trim, truncate, weed, weed out, whittle, wipe out, work
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