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Clean vs Prune - What's the difference?

clean | prune |

In lang=en terms the difference between clean and prune

is that clean is to make things clean in general while prune is to remove excess material from a tree or shrub; to trim, especially to make more healthy or productive.

As nouns the difference between clean and prune

is that clean is removal of dirt while prune is (obsolete) a plum.

As verbs the difference between clean and prune

is that clean is to remove dirt from a place or object while prune is to remove excess material from a tree or shrub; to trim, especially to make more healthy or productive.

As an adjective clean

is free of dirt or impurities or protruberances .

As an adverb clean

is fully and completely.

clean

English

(wikipedia clean)

Adjective

(er)
  • Free of dirt or impurities or protruberances.
  • #Not dirty.
  • #:
  • #*
  • #*:Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean . ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
  • #In an unmarked condition.
  • #:
  • #(lb) Allowing an uninterrupted flow over surfaces, without protrusions such as racks or landing gear.
  • #Empty.
  • #:
  • #(lb) Having relatively few impurities.
  • #:
  • Free of immorality or criminality.
  • #Pure, especially morally or religiously.
  • #:
  • #*(Bible), (Psalms) li.10:
  • #*:Create in me a clean heart, O God.
  • #* (1809-1892)
  • #*:That I am whole, and clean , and meet for Heaven.
  • #Not having used drugs or alcohol.
  • #:
  • # Without restrictions or penalties, or someone having such a record.
  • #:
  • #(lb) Not in possession of weapons or contraband such as drugs.
  • #:
  • Smooth, exact, and performed well.
  • :
  • (lb) Cool or neat.
  • :
  • (lb) Being free of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
  • :
  • Which doesn’t .
  • :
  • Free from that which is useless or injurious; without defects.
  • :
  • Free from restraint or neglect; complete; entire.
  • *(Bible), (w) xxiii.22:
  • *:When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of corners of thy field.
  • Well-proportioned; shapely.
  • :
  • Ascended without falling.
  • Synonyms

    * (not dirty) * (empty)

    Antonyms

    * dirty * unclean

    Derived terms

    * clean as a hound's tooth * * clean sheet * clean sweep * cleanliness * cleanly * come clean * lick clean * unclean

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Removal of dirt.
  • This place needs a clean .
  • (weightlifting) The first part of the event clean and jerk in which the weight is brought from the ground to the shoulders.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To remove dirt from a place or object.
  • Can you clean the windows today?
  • To tidy up, make a place neat.
  • Clean your room right now!
  • (climbing) To remove equipment from a climbing route after it was previously lead climbed.
  • To make things clean in general.
  • She just likes to clean . That’s why I married her.
  • (curling) To brush the ice lightly in front of a moving rock to remove any debris and ensure a correct line; less vigorous than a sweep.
  • Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * clean someone’s clock * clean out * clean up * cleaner * houseclean

    Adverb

    (er)
  • Fully and completely.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The huge square box, parquet-floored and high-ceilinged, had been arranged to display a suite of bedroom furniture designed and made in the halcyon days of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when modish taste was just due to go clean out of fashion for the best part of the next hundred years.}}

    prune

    English

    (wikipedia prune)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) prune, from (etyl) , a loanword from a language of Asia Minor.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A plum.
  • The dried, wrinkled fruit of certain species of plum.
  • (slang) An old woman, especially a wrinkly one.
  • Synonyms
    * see
    Derived terms
    * German prune * prune tree * pruney * South African prune

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) 'to round-off the front'.

    Verb

    (prun)
  • To remove excess material from a tree or shrub; to trim, especially to make more healthy or productive.
  • A good grape grower will prune his vines once a year.
  • * Milton
  • Our delightful task / To prune these growing plants, and tend these flowers.
  • (figuratively) To cut down or shorten (by the removal of unnecessary material).
  • to prune a budget, or an essay
  • * Francis Bacon
  • taking into consideration how they [laws] are to be pruned and reformed
  • (obsolete) To preen; to prepare; to dress.
  • * Shakespeare
  • His royal bird / Prunes the immortal wing and cloys his beak.
    (Dryden)
    (Spenser)
    Derived terms
    * (l) * (l)

    Anagrams

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