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Prune vs. Purge — What's the Difference?

Prune vs. Purge — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Prune and Purge

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Prune

A prune is a dried plum, most commonly from the European plum (Prunus domestica). Not all plum species or varieties can be dried into prunes.

Purge

In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another organization, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertaking such an effort is labeled as purging itself.

Prune

A plum preserved by drying and having a black, wrinkled appearance.

Purge

To clear (a container or space, for example) of something unclean or unwanted
Purge a water pipe of air.

Prune

An unpleasant or disagreeable person
He was a good leader, but a right miserable old prune
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Purge

To remove or eliminate (unwanted physical matter)
Purge the air from a water pipe.

Prune

An instance of trimming a tree, shrub, or bush
They need little care other than an annual prune

Purge

To rid (a person or thing) of something unwanted
"He had purged his brain of grandiose and debilitating dreams" (Tom Junod).

Prune

Trim (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to encourage growth
To limit growth, prune in summer
Now is the time to prune roses

Purge

To remove or eliminate (an unwanted element)
Attempts to purge indecent remarks from company email.

Prune

The partially dried fruit of any of several varieties of the common plum, Prunus domestica.

Purge

(Law) To clear (a person) of a charge or conviction.

Prune

Any kind of plum that can be dried without spoiling.

Purge

To rid (a nation or political party, for example) of people considered undesirable.

Prune

(Slang) An ill-tempered, stupid, or incompetent person.

Purge

To get rid of (people considered undesirable).

Prune

To make a facial expression exhibiting ill temper or disgust
“Their faces prune at the slightest provocation” (James Wolcott).

Purge

To cause evacuation of (the bowels).

Prune

To cut off or remove dead or living parts or branches of (a plant, for example) to improve shape or growth.

Purge

To induce evacuation of the bowels in (an individual).

Prune

To remove or cut out as superfluous.

Purge

To clear (a storage device) of unwanted data.

Prune

To reduce
Prune a budget.

Purge

To delete (unwanted data) from a storage device.

Prune

To remove what is superfluous or undesirable.

Purge

(Medicine) To undergo or cause an emptying of the bowels.

Prune

(obsolete) A plum.

Purge

To vomit or force oneself to vomit, especially as a symptom of an eating disorder.

Prune

The dried, wrinkled fruit of certain species of plum.

Purge

The act or process of purging
A purge of unwanted files.

Prune

(figurative) Something wrinkly like a prune.

Purge

Something that purges, especially a medicinal purgative.

Prune

(slang) An old woman, especially a wrinkly one.

Purge

An instance of vomiting or of forcing oneself to vomit.

Prune

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

Purge

An act of purging.

Prune

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.

Purge

(medicine) An evacuation of the bowels or a vomiting.

Prune

To cut down or shorten (by the removal of unnecessary material).
To prune a budget, or an essay

Purge

A cleansing of pipes.

Prune

To remove unnecessary branches from a tree data structure.

Purge

A forcible removal of people, for example, from political activity.
Stalin liked to ensure that his purges were not reversible.

Prune

(obsolete) To preen; to prepare; to dress.

Purge

That which purges; especially, a medicine that evacuates the intestines; a cathartic.

Prune

To lop or cut off the superfluous parts, branches, or shoots of; to clear of useless material; to shape or smooth by trimming; to trim: as, to prune trees; to prune an essay.
Taking into consideration how they [laws] are to be pruned and reformed.
Our delightful taskTo prune these growing plants, and tend these flowers.

Purge

(transitive) To clean thoroughly; to cleanse; to rid of impurities.

Prune

To cut off or cut out, as useless parts.
Horace will our superfluous branches prune.

Purge

To free from sin, guilt, or the burden or responsibility of misdeeds.

Prune

To preen; to prepare; to dress.
His royal birdPrunes the immortal wing and cloys his beak.

Purge

(transitive) To remove by cleansing; to wash away.

Prune

To dress; to prink; -used humorously or in contempt.

Purge

To void or evacuate (the bowels or the stomach); to defecate or vomit.

Prune

A plum; esp., a dried plum, used in cookery; as, French or Turkish prunes; California prunes.

Purge

To cause someone to purge, operate on (somebody) as or with a cathartic or emetic, or in a similar manner.

Prune

Dried plum

Purge

To forcibly remove, e.g., from political activity.
Deng Xiaoping was purged twice during the Cultural Revolution, but managed to return to power after Mao's death.

Prune

Cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of;
Dress the plants in the garden

Purge

To forcibly remove people from.
Cromwell had Colonel Pride purge Parliament of royalists who opposed Charles I's execution.

Prune

Weed out unwanted or unnecessary things;
We had to lose weight, so we cut the sugar from our diet

Purge

To clear of a charge, suspicion, or imputation.

Purge

(transitive) To clarify; to clear the dregs from (liquor).

Purge

(intransitive) To become pure, as by clarification.

Purge

(intransitive) To have or produce frequent evacuations from the intestines, as by means of a cathartic.

Purge

(transitive) To trim, dress, or prune.

Purge

To cleanse, clear, or purify by separating and carrying off whatever is impure, heterogeneous, foreign, or superfluous.

Purge

To operate on as, or by means of, a cathartic medicine, or in a similar manner.

Purge

To clarify; to defecate, as liquors.

Purge

To clear of sediment, as a boiler, or of air, as a steam pipe, by driving off or permitting escape.

Purge

To clear from guilt, or from moral or ceremonial defilement; as, to purge one of guilt or crime.
When that he hath purged you from sin.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.

Purge

To clear from accusation, or the charge of a crime or misdemeanor, as by oath or in ordeal.

Purge

To remove in cleansing; to deterge; to wash away; - often followed by away.
Purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.
We 'll join our cares to purge awayOur country's crimes.

Purge

To become pure, as by clarification.

Purge

To have or produce frequent evacuations from the intestines, as by means of a cathartic.

Purge

The act of purging.
The preparative for the purge of paganism of the kingdom of Northumberland.

Purge

That which purges; especially, a medicine that evacuates the intestines; a cathartic.

Purge

The act of clearing yourself (or another) from some stigma or charge

Purge

An act of removing by cleansing; ridding of sediment or other undesired elements

Purge

Oust politically;
Deng Xiao Ping was purged several times throughout his lifetime

Purge

Clear of a charge

Purge

Make pure or free from sin or guilt;
He left the monastery purified

Purge

Rid of impurities;
Purge the water
Purge your mind

Purge

Rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid;
Flush the wound with antibiotics
Purge the old gas tank

Purge

Eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth;
After drinking too much, the students vomited
He purged continuously
The patient regurgitated the food we gave him last night

Purge

Excrete or evacuate (someone's bowels or body);
The doctor decided that the patient must be purged

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