I. prune 1 /pruːn/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: proignier , probably from provigner 'to breed plants from shoots' , from Latin propago ; ⇨ ↑ propagate ]
1 . ( also prune something ↔ back ) to cut off some of the branches of a tree or bush to make it grow better:
The roses need pruning.
2 . especially British English to make something smaller by removing parts that you do not need or want:
The company is pruning staff in order to reduce costs.
The original version of the text has been pruned quite a bit.
II. prune 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: 'plum' , from Latin prunus ]
a dried ↑ plum , often cooked before it is eaten:
stewed prunes