as in to cull
to remove less desirable choices from a group or list
They winnowed the pool of applicants down to a few of the strongest candidates. I tried to winnow out the options that weren't a good value for the price.
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Recent Examples of winnow
The report resulted in the closure of over half the country’s medical schools, winnowing their numbers down from 148 to 66 over two decades.
—
Patrick Aguilar, The Conversation, 17 Oct. 2025
There's something so deeply satisfying about winnowing a huge capital ship down to its smallest components, finding critical welds and junctures, and melting them apart with your heat laser.
—Alan Bradley, Space.com, 7 Oct. 2025
These associates would then be winnowed out over time.
—Atta Tarki, Harvard Business Review, 2 Oct. 2025
West Point cancelled an award ceremony for Tom Hanks, after having already winnowed its library of potentially offensive books.
—Louis Menand, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for winnow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for winnow
Verb
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Florida’s way of culling the program reduces the income eligibility.—
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Vaccination, the obvious strategy, means more animals remain healthy, fewer are culled, and the USDA spends way less paying farmers.—
Verb
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Renk and Leonardo initially led the pan-European Stoxx 600 index, moving more than 4% higher, but pared gains through the session.—
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Trump’s edict was light on details — and the shares pared those losses in later trading — but the message was sent.—
Verb
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Kondrat suggests trimming off the rotten, mushy tissue and letting the plant and soil dry out for 2 weeks or so.—
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Adhere to Best Practices When Cutting As with trimming the branches of trees that overhang your property, make your cuts with an eye to the health of the bush.—
Verb
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Carolina cut the lead 17-14 at halftime after a 1-yard touchdown run by Hubbard and a 16-yard scramble by Young, the second-longest TD run of his career.—
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This same staff cut him to make room for a waiver-wire claim before the start of the 2024 season.—
Verb
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During his January 2025 State of the State address, Little called for tax cuts that could reduce the state’s general fund by about $100 million.—
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To reduce sizes, builders are going back to open floor plans with fewer hallways.—
Verb
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When it's turned on, the function will sift through inboxes and suggest to-do lists and topics that users might want to explore.—
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Errant crumbs can sift through the basket, resulting in burning and more mess.—
Cite this Entry
“Winnow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/winnow. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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