cull

verb

\ ˈkəl

culled; culling; culls

Definition of cull

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : to select from a group : choose culled the best passages from the poet's work Damaged fruits are culled before the produce is shipped.

2 : to reduce or control the size of (something, such as a herd) by removal (as by hunting or slaughter) of especially weak or sick individuals The town issued hunting licenses in order to cull the deer population. culling a herd of cattle also : to hunt or kill (individuals) for culling culling diseased cows culled hundreds of deer

cull

noun

Definition of cull (Entry 2 of 2)

: something rejected especially as being inferior or worthless … how to separate good-looking pecans from culls. — The Washington Post

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Examples of cull in a Sentence

Verb

He culls his herd annually. The town issued hunting licenses in order to cull the deer population.

Noun

the unbruised apples will be packed in bags, and the culls will be used for cider

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Most are culled from his KCBS and KNBC interviews dating to the 1970s. — Susan King, latimes.com, "Faced with cancer, longtime showbiz reporter David Sheehan looks back at his lifetime of celebrity interviews," 27 June 2019 Captain Joe Pavelski and Braun were culled in the seventh round. — Ross Mckeon, SFChronicle.com, "Sharks’ draft outlook: hurry up and wait," 20 June 2019 Pattis said there are more than 9.3 million emails that need to be culled in the search for specific ones that name Sandy Hook victims or their families and the gunman, Adam Lanza, among others. — Dave Altimari, courant.com, "Alex Jones offers $1M reward as FBI investigates child pornography planted on his Infowars server," 14 June 2019 Newly released emails signal that Abbott pushed to speed up work on Texas' efforts to cull its voter rolls of noncitizens, a claim his office strongly denies. — Jamie Hancock, Dallas News, "Red light cameras' fate, Abbott's denial, Ted Cruz on Mexico tariffs, Robert E. Lee statue sold," 6 June 2019 The social media company posted strong fourth-quarter results on Thursday, with ad revenues jumping 23% year over year to $791.4 million despite continuing to cull its base of monthly active users. — Laura Forman, WSJ, "Twitter Goes Full Marie Kondo," 7 Feb. 2019 The latest jewelry collection from DLC Brooklyn was inspired by the relationship between music and the creative process, as culled from designer Susan Domelsmith's experience as a member of the band Open Ocean. — Harper's Bazaar Staff, Harper's BAZAAR, "Melodic Accessories: DLC Brooklyn," 12 Aug. 2010 The data culled for the study came from 31 different satellites between 1985 to 2018 making approximately 4 billion observations. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "The World's Waves Are Getting Bigger, Scientists Say," 26 Apr. 2019 The Chicago startup is one of several looking to use industrial data culled from sensors embedded in machines like wind turbines and locomotives. — Ted Mann, WSJ, "Upstart Poaches GE Executives as It Chases Predix Customers," 8 Aug. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

According to Mauritius’s Food and Agricultural Research and Extension Institute, yields of these fruits have actually decreased since the culls began. — Rachel Nuwer, National Geographic, "These endangered bats are being killed by the thousands—here’s why," 1 Mar. 2019 The obvious thing to do was to dump WEIF in the cull, but after Mr Woodford slashed his fee again, to 0.5%, Mr Dampier kept him. — The Economist, "The Woodford affair ensnares middle England’s favourite fund supermarket," 15 June 2019 As revealed at the end of Infinity War, Captain Marvel represents Nick Fury’s ace in the hole and the last hope against Thanos and his universe-shattering cull. — Alex Abad-santos, Vox, "Captain Marvel and the future of the Avengers, explained," 18 Sep. 2018 While the government is pushing for softer measures such as sterilization for the pigs and education for humans who feed them, others say the solution is a full-scale cull of the swine. — Alice Fung, The Seattle Times, "In year of the pig, Hong Kong has had enough of wild ones," 6 Feb. 2019 The massive cull, which spanned 420 square miles, began in 2011. — James Rogers, Fox News, "Rat attack: World's largest rodent cull clears predators from Atlantic island," 9 May 2018 Overwhelmed by the numbers and dismayed by the futility of the cull, Berlin wildlife commissioner Derk Ehlert instead turned to the private sector. — Fox News, "Can't beat 'em? Eat 'em! Berlin captures, cooks crayfish," 11 June 2018 Overwhelmed by the numbers and dismayed by the futility and waste of the crayfish cull, Berlin wildlife commissioner Derk Ehlert instead turned to the private sector. — Washington Post, "Can’t beat ‘em? Eat ‘em! Berlin captures, cooks crayfish," 11 June 2018 The former want culls of the wolves; the latter emphasise better protection for livestock and resettlement of problematic packs. — The Economist, "A growing wolf population presents German politicians with a conundrum," 12 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cull.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.