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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of prune
Roblox stock is down 9% this past week alone in the wake of all this, and now, it’s just issued a bunch of new safety updates trying to prune some of the problems away.
—
Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025
Fruit: Summer pruning is recommended once fruit trees have put on more than two feet of growth during the season.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 15 Aug. 2025
The company aims to target the most physically punishing tasks, like pruning and harvesting, while preserving jobs farm workers enjoy.
—Tina Li, Sacbee.com, 5 Aug. 2025
This process, often referred to as model compression, involves advanced algorithms like neural architecture search (NAS), transfer learning, pruning, and quantization.
—Dwith Chenna, IEEE Spectrum, 20 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for prune
Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025
Fruit: Summer pruning is recommended once fruit trees have put on more than two feet of growth during the season.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 15 Aug. 2025
The company aims to target the most physically punishing tasks, like pruning and harvesting, while preserving jobs farm workers enjoy.
—Tina Li, Sacbee.com, 5 Aug. 2025
This process, often referred to as model compression, involves advanced algorithms like neural architecture search (NAS), transfer learning, pruning, and quantization.
—Dwith Chenna, IEEE Spectrum, 20 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for prune
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prune
Verb
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Lush lumps of rock crab arrived in a flying saucer made of ice and covered with kohlrabi shaved thin as a layer of frost.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 Sep. 2025
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To get into character, the actor had to shave his head, wear a combover and adjust his posture to appear nearly a foot shorter in order to capture the American songwriter's physical appearance.—
Yamillah Hurtado,
PEOPLE,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Others have cut bills by a factor of five.—
Matthew Kayser,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
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Jobless claims hit their highest level since 2021 last week, adding to recent labor market revisions that have fueled confidence the Fed will cut rates in September.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Undeterred, Rodgers connected on a five-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Warren to trim the deficit to 26-24.—
Mike DeFabo,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
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For his efforts, which also included spending more than $7,000 to trim trees and cut down two redwoods and a fir, he was rewarded with a certificate from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety that persuaded his insurer to maintain his coverage.—
Ethan Baron,
Mercury News,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Avoid heavy foot traffic on the grass and don’t mow it.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
8 Sep. 2025
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Even a person mowing their lawn on a windy day might send embers into the air.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Prune.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prune. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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