Dictionary

disbranch en · VERB

Etymology

From dis- + branch.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To remove a branch or branches.
   • 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 […] 1761, John Mordant, The Complete Steward:
   • You have to disbud and disbranch your plants to get one bloom that is anywhere close to perfection. August 20 2021, Sara Bruestle, “See bodacious blooms at dahlia show this weekend in Everett”, in The Herald:
2. (intransitive) To tear away; to break off.
   • She that herself will sliver and disbranch From her material sap, perforce must wither, And come to deadly use. 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):

Forms