Prune vs Curtail - What's the difference?
prune | curtail |
(obsolete) A plum.
The dried, wrinkled fruit of certain species of plum.
(slang) An old woman, especially a wrinkly one.
To remove excess material from a tree or shrub; to trim, especially to make more healthy or productive.
* Milton
(figuratively) To cut down or shorten (by the removal of unnecessary material).
* Francis Bacon
(obsolete) To preen; to prepare; to dress.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) To cut short the tail of an animal
To shorten or abridge the duration of something; to truncate.
(figuratively) To limit or restrict, keep in check.
* Macaulay
In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between prune and curtail
is that prune is (obsolete) to preen; to prepare; to dress while curtail is (obsolete) to cut short the tail of an animal.In lang=en terms the difference between prune and curtail
is that prune is to remove excess material from a tree or shrub; to trim, especially to make more healthy or productive while curtail is to shorten or abridge the duration of something; to truncate.In figuratively|lang=en terms the difference between prune and curtail
is that prune is (figuratively) to cut down or shorten (by the removal of unnecessary material) while curtail is (figuratively) to limit or restrict, keep in check.As nouns the difference between prune and curtail
is that prune is (obsolete) a plum while curtail is (architecture) a scroll termination, as of a step, etc.As verbs the difference between prune and curtail
is that prune is to remove excess material from a tree or shrub; to trim, especially to make more healthy or productive while curtail is (obsolete) to cut short the tail of an animal.prune
English
(wikipedia prune)Etymology 1
From (etyl) prune, from (etyl) , a loanword from a language of Asia Minor.Noun
(en noun)Synonyms
* seeDerived terms
* German prune * prune tree * pruney * South African pruneEtymology 2
From (etyl) 'to round-off the front'.Verb
(prun)- A good grape grower will prune his vines once a year.
- Our delightful task / To prune these growing plants, and tend these flowers.
- to prune a budget, or an essay
- taking into consideration how they [laws] are to be pruned and reformed
- His royal bird / Prunes the immortal wing and cloys his beak.
- (Dryden)
- (Spenser)
Derived terms
* (l) * (l)Anagrams
* ----curtail
English
Verb
(en verb)- ''Curtailing horses procured long horse-hair.
- When the audience grew restless, the speaker curtailed her speech.
- Their efforts to curtail spending didn't quite succeed.
- Our incomes have been curtailed ; his salary has been doubled.