Deleting a branch means deleting a reference.

Deleting a local branch

git branch --delete <branch>
git branch -d <branch>  # Shorter version
git branch -D <branch>  # Force delete un-merged branches

Deleting a remote branch

…and a local remote tracking at the same time

git push origin --delete <branch>
git push origin :<branch>  # Old syntax

Deleting a local remote-tracking branch

git branch --delete --remotes <remote>/<branch>
git branch -dr <remote>/<branch>

Deleting remote-tracking branches which have nothing to track

git fetch <remote> --prune
git fetch <remote> -p

Check what remains

git branch -a

Delete remote-tracking branches, that have already been removed from remote

git remote prune origin

Local vs tracking vs remote branch