cull

verb \ ˈkəl \

Updated on: 13 Apr 2018

Definition of cull

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) of especially weaker animals; also : to hunt or kill (animals) as a means of population control

The town issued hunting licenses in order to cull the deer population.

—

culler

noun

See cull defined for English-language learners

See cull defined for kids

Examples of cull in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of cull from the Web

Data culled from cellphone towers showed Hunt made several trips to and from his cousin's house and the Motel 6.

— cory shaffer, cleveland.com, "Elyria man sentenced for killing Tierra Bryant, who tried to pepper-spray and rob him," 9 Apr. 2018
That data, however, only culls information from students who received federal financial aid — which former College Scorecard director Michael Itzkowitz said is a major limitation.

— lindsay ellis, San Antonio Express-News, "UT releases data on what its grads earn — and what they owe in loans," 26 Mar. 2018
According to a report in the New York Times and the Observer of London, the firm culled personal data from more than 50 million Facebook users without their permission.

— ryan teague beckwith, Time, "Trump's New National Security Advisor John Bolton Has Links to Cambridge Analytica," 24 Mar. 2018
Schiller culled through hundreds of Kennedy photographs and narrowed in on 79 of the most dynamic and resonant by seasoned photographers.

— richard chang, latimes.com, "In 'American Visionary' exhibit, Bowers Museum examines JFK's youthful dynamism," 22 Mar. 2018
The companies, in turn, cull records of criminal and civil cases filed against a person but often don't provide any information about what happened in the case.

— maya dukmasova, Chicago Reader, "News / Housing Failed eviction attempts wouldn't haunt tenants under proposed state law," 19 Mar. 2018
Cattle farmers, unable to afford corn gluten feed, culled their herds to levels not seen in 60 years, causing beef prices to rise an incredible 60% from 2007 to 2012.

— thomas landstreet, WSJ, "Biofuel Mandates Are a Bad Idea Whose Time May Be Up," 11 Mar. 2018
Before the primary culled the field, there were 50 women running for the House in Texas, up from 13 in 2014 and 18 in 2016, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

— Bloomberg.com, "Democrats Mobilized by Anger at Trump Surge in Texas Primary," 7 Mar. 2018
This move culled dozens of ascendant Twitter client apps, particularly the popular ones—the apps that might have been doing Twitter better than Twitter was.

— eric limer, Popular Mechanics, "Twitter Can't Solve Abuse Because Twitter Has Never Solved Anything," 2 Mar. 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.