What is the name of the handheld tool used to prune small branches?

Pruning shears are the handheld tool used to prune small branches.

Also called hand pruners or secateurs, pruning shears are compact, one-handed scissors designed for cutting stems and branches. They are commonly used in gardens, orchards, vineyards, nurseries, and flower arranging, and many models can handle branches up to about 2 centimetres thick.

A common mix-up is loppers. Loppers have much longer handles and are operated with two hands, giving extra leverage for thicker branches. Garden shears generally have longer blades suited to trimming soft growth or shaping hedges, while a hedge trimmer is a powered tool for cutting many stems quickly.

Pruning shears come in several designs. Bypass pruners use two blades that pass one another and usually make a clean cut on live wood. Anvil pruners close a blade against a flat surface and are often useful for dead wood. Specialized gardening scissors existed in Europe by the early 1800s.