pruning

verb

To become wrinkled like a dried plum, as the fingers and toes do when kept submerged in water.

1. To remove excess material from a tree or shrub; to trim, especially to make more healthy or productive.

   A good grape grower will prune the vines once a year.

2. To cut down or shorten (by the removal of unnecessary material).

   to prune a budget, or an essay

3. To remove unnecessary branches from a tree data structure.
4. To preen; to prepare; to dress.

1. A removal of excess material from a tree or shrub.
2. Something obtained by pruning, as a twig.
3. A method of enumeration that allows the cutting out of parts of a decision tree.