Definition of "prune" [prune]

• The partially dried fruit of any of several varieties of the common plum, Prunus domestica. (noun)
• Any kind of plum that can be dried without spoiling. (noun)
• Slang An ill-tempered, stupid, or incompetent person. (noun)
• Slang To make a facial expression exhibiting ill temper or disgust: "Their faces prune at the slightest provocation” ( James Wolcott). (verb-intransitive)
• To cut off or remove dead or living parts or branches of (a plant, for example) to improve shape or growth. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "There's certainly no denying the family resemblance with those big eyes and lips -- we were once told that MK&A like to say the word "prune" when a photo is being taken to get just the right amount of pout happening, but that could be a rumor."
• "Yes, redfox-I know how you feel about prunes ... and how a prune is like a cake."
• "I even like the word prune -- calling prunes "dried plums" is precise but pretentious."