Prune vs. Purge — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Prune and Purge
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Compare with Definitions
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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