prune

noun
🔊/pruːn/
🔊/pruːn/
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  1. a dried plum that is often eaten cooked干梅子;西梅干;李子干
    • stewed prunes炖梅脯
    Topics Foodc2
    Word Originnoun Middle English: from Old French, via Latin from Greek prou(m)non ‘plum’.

prune

verb
🔊/pruːn/
🔊/pruːn/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they prune
🔊/pruːn/
🔊/pruːn/
he / she / it prunes
🔊/pruːnz/
🔊/pruːnz/
past simple pruned
🔊/pruːnd/
🔊/pruːnd/
past participle pruned
🔊/pruːnd/
🔊/pruːnd/
-ing form pruning
🔊/ˈpruːnɪŋ/
🔊/ˈpruːnɪŋ/
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  1. to cut off some of the branches from a tree, bush, etc. so that it will grow better and stronger修剪树枝;打杈
    • prune something When should you prune apple trees?苹果树应该什么时候剪枝?🔊🔊
    • He pruned the longer branches off the tree.他把较长的树枝剪掉了。🔊🔊
    • prune something back The hedge needs pruning back.树篱需要修剪了。🔊🔊
    Extra Examples
    • Prune the trees hard in the winter.在冬天将树木做大幅度修剪。
    • The roses had been pruned back severely.玫瑰被严重修剪了。
    Topics Gardensc2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • drastically
    • hard
    • heavily
    See full entry
  2. prune something (back) to make something smaller by removing parts; to cut out parts of something裁减;削减;精简
    • Staff numbers have been pruned back to 175.员工的数量已精减到 175 人。🔊🔊
    • The railway companies have pruned their timetables (= there are fewer trains).铁路公司已经削减了时间表。
    • Prune out any unnecessary details.把无关紧要的细节统统删掉。🔊🔊
    • Their budgets have been drastically pruned.他们的预算遭到了大幅削减。
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • drastically
    • hard
    • heavily
    See full entry
  3. Word Originverb late 15th cent. (in the sense ‘abbreviate’): from Old French pro(o)ignier, possibly based on Latin rotundus ‘round’.