disbranch

English

Etymology

From dis- +‎ branch.

Verb

disbranch (third-person singular simple present disbranches, present participle disbranching, simple past and past participle disbranched)

1. (transitive) To remove a branch or branches.
   • 1761, John Mordant, The Complete Steward:

     There is no tree admits of transplantation so well as the Elm, for a tree of twenty years growth will admit of a remove. Mr. Evelyn says, he has removed them twice as big as a man's waist ; but then they were totally disbranched, the top being left only intire […]

   • August 20 2021, Sara Bruestle, “See bodacious blooms at dahlia show this weekend in Everett”, in The Herald‎^[1]:

     You have to disbud and disbranch your plants to get one bloom that is anywhere close to perfection.

2. (intransitive) To tear away; to break off.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     She that herself will sliver and disbranch
     From her material sap, perforce must wither,
     And come to deadly use.

References

“disbranch”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• branchids