as in to shave
to make (something) shorter or smaller with the use of a cutting instrument
pruned the dead branches from the old apple tree
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Recent Examples of prune
These can be pruned to maintain their smaller size, which makes care and harvesting easy.
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Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 10 Jan. 2026
Continuous City of Sacramento tree pruners are responsible for pruning and removing trees along city streets and to perform other related maintenance duties.
—Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado
january 8, Sacbee.com, 8 Jan. 2026
The asparagus knife was found among the containers in the basement, alongside other grafting and pruning knives.
—Sam Vong, The Conversation, 18 Dec. 2025
That backlash has prompted a growing number of executives to aggressively prune—or outright eliminate—meetings from corporate schedules, sometimes carving out entirely meeting-free days.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 15 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prune
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prune
Verb
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Millions of Americans are shaving down their grocery budgets and putting off buying a home as wages fail to meet rising costs of living.—
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Over the course of a full marathon, Salomon calculated the Phantasm 3 can shave up to 18 seconds from a pace of 2 hours and 6 minutes.—
Verb
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Carolina cut the lead 17-14 at halftime after a 1-yard touchdown run by Hubbard and a 16-yard scramble by Young, the second-longest TD run of his career.—
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This same staff cut him to make room for a waiver-wire claim before the start of the 2024 season.—
Verb
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Fears aired an alley-oop dunk to forward Carson Cooper on the next play, the first score of the second half, to trim Arkansas’ lead to 39-38.—
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The key is to fold the scarf over itself to create volume and to look for a lace trim that leaves the hem frayed, so as not to look too formal.—
Verb
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Ross has mowed through Tony Sparano, Todd Bowles (interim), Joe Philbin, Dan Campbell (interim), Adam Gase, Brian Flores and now McDaniel.—
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Backup offensive lineman Thayer Munford whiffed blocking the Patriots' first run, but otherwise mowed defenders down as a fullback and moving tight end.—
Cite this Entry
“Prune.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prune. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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