PRUNING Definition & Meaning

View synonyms for

pruning

[ proo-ning ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the act or practice of cutting or lopping off undesired twigs, branches, or roots:
Some pruning of your tea roses during the summer is useful to encourage growth and flowers.
the act or practice of getting rid of undesirable elements or excess:
You can do this pruning of emails for an hour a day till you're down to an empty inbox.

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of pruning¹

First recorded in 1540–50; prun(e) ²( def ) + -ing ¹( def )

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

I am told there may be some "light pruning" but no major changes are expected.

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However, the chancellor suggested a loss of 10,000 roles, which is only a pruning of a workforce of over half a million - especially as it sees 30-40,000 leavers every year.

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“We work, even when we’re scared,” one worker said, while pruning grape vines on a recent afternoon.

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Growing the berries is labour intensive - picking, pruning, weeding, spraying, fertilising and transporting the products.

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Mechanical thinning does much of the work of prescribed burning methodically by hand: cutting down small trees, removing brush, pruning the lower limbs of larger trees so fire can’t climb up into the canopy.

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