Prune vs Retrench - What's the difference?
prune | retrench |
(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
To cut down or reduce.
* Denham
To abridge; to curtail.
* Milton
To confine; to limit; to restrict.
* I. Taylor
To furnish with a retrenchment (defensive work within a fortification).
To take up a new defensive position.
*2012 , The Economist,
To dig or redig a trench where one already was.
As verbs the difference between prune and retrench
is that prune is to remove excess material from a tree or shrub; to trim, especially to make more healthy or productive while retrench is to cut down or reduce or retrench can be to dig or redig a trench where one already was.As a noun prune
is (obsolete) a plum.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
* ----retrench
English
Etymology 1
(etyl) retrenchier, (etyl) retrancher; see (etyl) , and English trench.Verb
(es)- Thy exuberant parts retrench .
- But this thy glory shall be soon retrenched .
- (Addison)
- These figures, ought they then to receive a retrenched interpretation?
- to retrench bastions
- We must retrench and try to hold on long enough for products in development to reach the market or we will be out of business.
Private Equity: Keep Calm and Carry On
- International firms could decide it is not cost-effective to keep open their other European offices and retrench to London.