Prune

Definition: Prune

Prune

Noun

1. Dried plum.

Verb

1. Cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of "dress the plants in the garden".

2. Weed out unwanted or unnecessary things; "We had to lose weight, so we cut the sugar from our diet".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "prune" was first used: sometime around 1200. (references)

19th Century Satire

Food & Agriculture

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Prune

Improvement

Touch up, rub up, brush up, furbish up, bolster up, vamp up, brighten up, warm up; polish, cook, make the most of, set off to advantage; prune; repair; (restore); put in order; (arrange).

Nonaddition Subtraction

Garble, mutilate, amputate, detruncate; cut off, cut away, cut out; abscind, excise; pare, thin, prune, decimate; abrade, scrape, file; geld, castrate; eliminate.

Shortness

Retrench, cut short, obtruncate; scrimp, cut, chop up, hack, hew; cut down, pare down; clip, dock, lop, prune, shear, shave, mow, reap, crop; snub; truncate, pollard, stunt, nip, check the growth of; foreshorten.

Crosswords: Prune

French (damson, plum).

Don't just stand there sucking on a prune pit, get these men some water (Combat!; writing credit: Robert Altman; Peter Barry)

It certainly is. They had the best prune danish in town (Get Smart; writing credit: Shinichi Sekizawa; Futaro Yamada)

Dry up Dursley, you great prune! (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; writing credit: Steven Kloves)

Prune (1970)

Farmer Al Falfa's Prune Plantation (1916)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• The Prune Book (reference)

• The Prune Book: The 60 Toughest Science and Technology Jobs in Washington (Prune Book, No. 3) (reference)

• At the Zoo (Investigate With Prune and Prosper) (reference)

• Plant pruning in pictures; how, when, and where to prune, and with what tools (reference)

• Prune Country Railroading (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• Cafe Apres-Midi: Prune [IMPORT] (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Black and white photo of workers posing at Tillson Prune Packers. Credit: Unknown.

Implements of torture, and their dangerous effects. Illustrated / By James Akin, No. 18 Prune Street, Philadelphia. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Health

Some changes in eating habits may be necessary too. Your child should eat more high-fiber foods to soften stool, avoid dairy products if they cause constipation, and drink plenty of fluids every day, including water and juices like prune, grape, or apricot, which help prevent constipation. (references)

Economic History

Israel

Israel's annual raisin and prune imports are governed by tariff rate quotas of 550 and 750 metric tons respectively. (references)

Political Economy

Finland

Social Democratic Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen's broad, five-party coalition continues to face high unemployment, 9.8 percent in 2000. Unemployment for 2001 is projected to be 8.6 percent, so the trend is a gradual but steady decline from a peak of 18.2 percent in 1994. In essence, Lipponen's government is trying to prune, but preserve, the welfare state. (references)

Trade

Uzbekistan

In addition, tariffs, previously assessed on the soum value of the goods at the commercial exchange rate, were now assessed on the value at the new rate, which increased tariffs 2.7-fold. Even at the new rate, however, the government continued to squeeze consumer goods import quotas: importers with quotas of $100,000 or less lost their quotas, and the government continued through the autumn to prune the ranks of the select few remaining quotaholders. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expressions using "prune": German prune ♦ prune away ♦ Prune Belly Syndrome ♦ prune cake ♦ prune down ♦ prune off ♦ prune tree ♦ prune whip ♦ South African prune. Additional references.

Beginning with "prune": prune-coloured, prune-faced, prune-like.

Ending with "prune": summer-prune.

Albanian

pres (amputate, anticipate, await, be asking for, be expecting, be on the watch, be waiting, bide, buck, chop, clip, coin, cut, cut away, cut open, detruncate, disforest, dissect, entertain, expect, exscind, fell, hew, host, knife, look for, look forward to, mince, mint, Nick, notch, obtruncate, poll, screw, section, sever, shut off, sit on the fence, slash, slot, snip, take, Tarry, undercut, wait, ween, whack), trap (booby, cockeyed, Dick, ditch, Dong, dope, duffer, dumbbell, ferry, float, moron, pontoon, prick, raft, sap, sap-head, snare), tëharr (clear from weeds, weed), shkurtoj (abbreviate, abridge, ax, axe, buck, clip, compress, condense, curtail, cut, cut back, cut down, detruncate, dock, epitomize, pare, poll, razee, retrench, shorten, truncate, undercut, whittle down), kumbull e thatë, krasis (pare, shear). (various references)

Arabic 

‏هذب (chasten, civilize, cultivate, edify, educate, elevate, file, geld, lop, perfect, polish, refine, retouch, revise, shear off, sublimate, touch, touch up, trim), ‏قلم (clip, cut, cut back, liner, manicure, pare, pen, streak, stria, stripe, trim), ‏تقليم (clipping, pruning), ‏شذب (cut, cut back, lop, manicure, pare, refine, tip, trim, truncate), ‏برقوق أو خوخ مجفف. (various references)

Blackfoot

sikomahksiin. (various references)

Bulgarian 

съкращавам (abbreviate, abridge, cancel, condense, contract, curtail, cut short, discard, elide, reduce, retrench, slash, take off, terminate, truncate), синя слива, кастря (carpet, crop, knife, lop, pare, pare off, rap, trash), окастрям (cut down, emasculate, pare off, truncate), морав цвят (purple), махам всичко излишно, противен човек (stink-pot, sweep, swine, ugly customer). (various references)

Chamorro

despongga. (various references)

Chinese 

修剪 (trim). (various references)

Czech

prořezávat, sušená švestka, omezit (abate, circumscribe, confine, constrict, curb, curtail, cut back, cut down, decrease, deflate, limit, narrow, restrict, retrench, scale down, terminate, trammel). (various references)

Dutch

snoeien (clip, cut, shear). (various references)

Esperanto

pritondi. (various references)

Farsi 

هرس کردن (Lop, Rogue), گوجه برقانی , سرشاخه زدن (Crop), الوبخارا, اراستن (Apparel, Arrange, Array, Attire, Brave, Clothe, Embroider, Equip, Grace, Groom, Habit, Illustrate, Line, Perk, Pretty, Prim, Primp, Range, Rank, Stud, Tidy, Trim). (various references)

Finnish

oksia (trim), luumu (plum), karsia (eliminate, lop, strike . . out). (various references)

French

pruneau, tailler, élaguer (pruning). (various references)

German

Backpflaume. (various references)

Greek 

κλαδεύω (lop, lop off, trim). (various references)

Hebrew 

לקצץ (chop, clip, cut down, hack, hackle, lop, maul, scale down, slash, whittle down), לזמור (clip, trim), ל�'מז (caprificate), ל�'זום (clip, cut back, lop, trim), שזיף (plum). (various references)

Hungarian

aszalt szilva (french plums). (various references)

Indonesian

memotong (butcher, deduct, dissect, dock, hamstring, intersect, lop), memangkas (trim), memancung. (various references)

Italian

sfrondare. (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

李 (plum), 干し李 , 刈 (clip, cut, reap, shear, trim). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

すもも (plum), ほしすもも, かり (acting, assumed, borrowing, clip, cut, debt, fleeting, hunting, informal, interim, loan, lower official, potash, potassium, provisional, reap, shear, temporary, trim, unauthorized, wild goose). (various references)

Korean 

자두 (Plum). (various references)

Manx

pollal (clip, clip on ticket, crop, dress, poll, pruning), plumbis shirgit, plumbis chirmit, giarrey (abbreviate, abridge, abridging, axe, beat out, bob the tail; severance, bob; severance, carve, castrate, cleave, clip, clip as words; slicing, clip; slicing, condensation, condense, condensing, crop, crop as tail, curtail, curtailment, cut, cut away, cut back, cut short, cut up, disconnect, disconnection, dissect, erupt, eruption, flux, gash, hack, hew, incise, incision, infliction, intersect, intersection, lance, levy, lop, mark out, nicking, pruning, puncture, reaping, scission, section, sever, shear, sink, slash, slit, snip, truncate), baarey (bare, clip, cut, dress, paring knife, poll, shave). (various references)

Maya

kulin. (various references)

Pig Latin

unepray.(various references)

Portuguese

desbastar (build, build from wood, chip, detruncate, hew, hew down, lop, pare, select, single, spall, thin out, trim, whittle), ameixa seca. (various references)

Romanian

prunã uscatã, tãia (amputate, ax, axe, butcher, cancel, carve, carve out, castrate, chop, clap, cleave, clip, crop, cross, Curdle, cut, cut on the bias, Dent, dissect, engrave, excise, exscind, fell, flench, foul, grave, hew, incise, intercept, kill, measure off, notch, notch off, pare, plough, quarter, resect, rip, Rive, separate, sever, shear, shorten, shut the works down, slaughter, slay, slice, snick, split, Square, stop, strike out, switch off), simplifica (simplify), reteza (clip, cut, hoe, obtruncate, sever, slash), reduce (abate, abridge, ax, axe, bear down, bring, cancel out, contract, curtail, cut, decrease, derogate, detract, diminish, discount, draw in, drop, extenuate, fine down, knock down, knock off, lessen, lower, make good, narrow down, pare down, recover, reduce, retrench, slacken, stint, stop, unbend, weaken), emonda, elaga. (various references)

Romany

siya tooyavìn. (various references)

Russian 

чернослив (French plum), красновато-лиловый цвет, обрезать (circumcise, clip, cut off, obtruncate, pare, truncate), подрезать чернослив, подрезать (dress, pare, trim, trim away, trim off, undercut). (various references)

Scottish

sgath (a wattled door, injure, lop off), bèarr (clip, shave). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

potkresati (lop, poll, top), uštogljena osoba, suva šljiva, orezati, okresati (pollard, snub), nakresati (trim). (various references)

Spanish

podar (clip, lop, trim). (various references)

Swedish

sviskon. (various references)

Turkish

muaf tutmak (acquit, discharge, excuse, exempt, exonerate, free, immunize, release, rescue), kuru erik (french plums, prunelle), kesmek (abandon, amputate, Bate, blunt, break, butcher, carve, cease, chaff, chop, chop off, clip, close, close down, crop, cut, cut back, cut off, cut out, deaden, disconnect, discontinue, dock, drop, dry up, excise, fair, fell, gash, give over, hack, hew, interrupt, intersect, kill, knife, lay off, lop, lop off, Nick, nick oneself, nip, nip off, occlude, pare, poll, saw off, sever, shave, shear, shut down on, shut down upon, shut off, slash, slaughter, slice, slit, snick, stanch, staunch, stem, stop, truncate, wrap it up, wrap up), kısaltmak (abbreviate, abridge, cancel, clip, compress, curtail, cut down, dock, edit, make shorter, reduce, retrench, short circuit, shorten, summarize, take up), istisna etmek, budamak (amputate, chip, chop off, cut, cut back, lop, nip, nip off, pare, poll, Pollard, prune away, prune off, trim, truncate), budala (barren, chucklehead, chumpish, clod, clownish, doltish, dreary, dullish, fool, jackass, juggins, noddy, noodle, sappy, simple simon, soft, twit, zany), ahmak (addled, ass, blockhead, boob, bumpkin, cabbagehead, chucklehead, chumpish, clot, country bumpkin, crass, cretin, deadly dull, dimwitted, dolt, doltish, dreary, dullish, dumb bell, dunderhead, dunderheaded, fathead, fool, foolish, gander, gawk, gawky, goat, goof, goose, greenhorn, Gubbins, half wit, half-witted, hayseed, idiot, jackass, jerk, josser, kookaburra, light in the head, loon, lummox, lump, muggins, mutt, mutton head, noddy, numskull, pudding-head, sap, saphead, sappy, schlepper, simp, soft, stupid, twerp). (various references)

Ukrainian

скорочувати (abate, abbreviate, abridge, ax, axe, blue pencil, boil down, cancel, castrate, curtail, cut, lop away, lop off, retrench, shorten, shrink), слива (plum), чорнослив, підрізати (barb, clip, pare, tip, trim), підчищати (scratch out), простак (gaby, gawky, greener, innocent, josser, juggins, lummox, muggins, ninny, ninny-hammer, noddy, pigeon, simp, simple, simpleton, softy). (various references)

Welsh

ysgythru (carve, cut), tocio (clip, dock). (various references)

abscidantur, abscide, abscidentur, absciderunt, abscides, abscidet, abscidetur, abscidi, abscidisset, abscidit, abscisa, abscisae, abscisam, abscisi, absciso, abscisum, abscisus, adtondebitis, adtondent, adtondentur, adtonsi, deputabuntur, deputatae, deputatus. (various references)

screadian. (various references)

proignier, pronne. (various references)

proinen. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations

Words beginning with "prune": pruned, prunella, prunellas, prunelle, prunelles, prunello, prunellos, pruner, pruners, prunes. (additional references)

Words containing "prune": unpruned. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Prune" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: grune, parone, perone, Peronne, Perruno, Peruana, peruano, Perunov, peune, Pfrunder, phrone, plune, prana, prane, prannet, Praun, prene, Prenge, prina, prine, proje, prona, pronav, pronce, pronet, proni, pronte, proun, Pruce, prule, prun, pruneaux, pruney, prung, Prunner, pruny, prunz, pruse, prute, pryne, Przno, pune, punen, Puren, purna, Purner, Purun, pyrene. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: pure, rune.

-2 letters: ern, pen, per, pun, pur, rep, rue, run, urn.

-3 letters: en, er, ne, nu, pe, re, un, up.

+1 letter: penury, pruned, pruner, prunes, punier, punker, punner, punter, purine, repugn, unpure, unripe.

+2 letters: juniper, parvenu, pleuron, plunder, plunger, plunker, pouncer, pounder, premune, prudent, pruners, puncher, punkers, punkier, punners, punnier, punster, punters, purines, purline, repugns, spurned, spurner, undrape, unriper, unroped, upborne, uprisen, uptrend.

+3 letters: erumpent, erupting, eruption, expunger, gunpaper, hereupon, impugner, inpoured, junipers, kerplunk, oppugner, outpreen, parvenue, parvenus, pendular, penumbra, penuries, perilune, perineum, perusing, plunders, plungers, plunkers, pouncers, pounders, prebound, prehuman, prelunch, prepunch, pressrun, preunion, preunite, prevuing, prudence, pruinose, prunable, prunella, prunelle, prunello, prunuses, prurient, punchers, punchier, puncture, punisher, punsters, pureeing, pureness, purlines, purslane, purulent, replunge, repugned, reputing, resprung, resupine, speargun, spunkier, spurners, superfan, supering, superman, supermen, supernal, turnpike, underlap, underlip, underpay, underpin, undraped, undrapes, unexpert, unpacker, unpaired, unparted, unperson, unpretty, unpriced, unprimed, unprized, unprobed, unproved, unproven, unpruned, unpucker, unpurged, unrepaid, unrepair, unripely, unripest, unripped, unsphere, unwarped, uplander, uptowner, uptrends, upturned.