prune
part of speech
noun (a prune, prunes); verb (prune, prunes, pruned, pruning)
meaning for a pupil
1) A prune is a dried plum, dark and wrinkly, eaten as a snack or cooked. tree →
2) (verb) To prune a tree or bush is to cut off some branches so it grows better. tree →
3) (verb) To prune something is to cut out parts you do not need, such as words in a story. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: In the Torah it means to trim vines so they grow better. It is allowed in six years but forbidden in the seventh. The prophets mention "pruning-hooks," the tools used, and an unpruned vineyard is a picture of a land left waste. Interpretation: Tradition says the land rests in the seventh year, called the Sabbatical year or shmitta. In Isaiah and Joel pruning-hooks stand for peace, and beating them into spears means war; the tradition looks forward to the reverse in the days of the Messiah. In the primary lessons: In gardening and science lessons pruning helps plants grow healthy; in everyday life prunes are a food said to help digestion; in English lessons pupils prune long sentences. Phrases: prune the roses, prune juice, fingers like prunes.
examples
- Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the produce thereof. (Torah LEV.25.3, JPS 1917) tree →
- But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto the LORD; thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. (Torah LEV.25.4, JPS 1917) tree →
- Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears; let the weak say: 'I am strong.' (Prophets JOL.4.10, JPS 1917) tree →
- And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned nor hoed, but there shall come up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. (Prophets ISA.5.6, JPS 1917) tree →
- For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the bud becometh a ripening grape, He will cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, and the shoots will He take away and lop off. (Prophets ISA.18.5, JPS 1917) tree →
- Grandpa likes prunes with his breakfast. tree →
- We pruned the apple tree in winter. tree →
- Prunes are dried plums. tree →
- After the bath my fingers looked like prunes. tree →
- Prune your story so it is not too long. tree →
- Dad pruned the hedge with shears. tree →
note
Countable for the fruit (prunes). Verb past form: pruned. In some languages «prune» means a fresh plum (French «prune»); in English it is a dried one — a false friend.
In the corpora
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «prune» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.