Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRUNE, v.t. [perhaps from Fr. provigner, to lay down vine stocks for propagation. If not, I know not its origin.]

1. To lop or cut off the superfluous branches of trees, to make them bear better fruit or grow higher, or to give them a more handsome and regular appearance. – Encyc. Milton.
2. To clear from any thing superfluous; to dress; to trim. His royal bird / Prunes the immortal wing, and cloys his beak. – Shak.