What is the meaning of pruning?

noun

• Something that has been pruned off of a plant.
• The act of trimming a plant.

verb

• Cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of.
  • usage: "dress the plants in the garden"
  • synonyms: snip, clip, crop, trim, lop, dress, prune, cut back
• Weed out unwanted or unnecessary things.
  • usage: "We had to lose weight, so we cut the sugar from our diet"
  • synonyms: cut, prune, rationalize, rationalise