Pruning

//ˈpɹuːnɪŋ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A removal of excess material from a tree or shrub. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    the act of trimming a plant wordnet
  3. 3
    Something obtained by pruning, as a twig. countable
  4. 4
    something that has been pruned off of a plant wordnet
  5. 5
    A method of enumeration that allows the cutting out of parts of a decision tree. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of prune form-of, gerund, participle, present

Synonyms

All synonyms
abbreviationclippingcontractioncultivationculturecutting

Example

More examples

"They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again."

Etymology

From prune + -ing.

Related phrases

alpha-beta pruningpruning hookpruning shearsself-pruningsummer pruningdecision tree

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.