cull

verb \ ˈkəl \

|Updated on: 22 Jun 2018

Examples: cull in a Sentence

Definition of cull

culled; culling; culls

transitive verb

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

Mario can throw his hat, a la Super Mario Odyssey, and Link has a few new moves culled from Breath of the Wild.

— scott meslow, GQ, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate," 15 June 2018
The debate in the colonial city of Merida centers on economic growth, poverty, health, education and technology, based on questions culled from social media.

— Fox News, "Mexican presidential candidates square off in debate," 12 June 2018
Those who went on strike lost their jobs, and their replacements, culled from an ample pool of World War I veterans, were given the wage increase their predecessors had sought for years.

— danny mcdonald, BostonGlobe.com, "Chronicling ‘the most significant event’ in the history of Boston police," 8 June 2018
The mob is growing at about 8 percent a year, according to Pest Smart, and the animals are normally culled by helicopter in remote areas.

— rebecca keenan, Bloomberg.com, "The World Wants More Camel Milk. Australia Can Help," 23 May 2018
While Burkhardt was culling information, Chubb was handling some off-the-field business.

— jenny vrentas, SI.com, "24 Hours ... With Bradley Chubb and His Team at the NFL Draft," 1 May 2018
As all of this background was being culled, the calendar soon became a factor for both teams.

— jim owczarski, Cincinnati.com, "Bengals Xtra: How the Cincinnati Bengals made the trade for Cordy Glenn," 25 Mar. 2018
All the tweets are supposedly culled from real posts, although users’ names are redacted.

— eric johnson, Recode, "Best of Nextdoor is the best account you’re not following on Twitter," 25 Mar. 2018
Eventually the Cleveland FBI joined the search, culling cellphone towers to try and ping the girl's cellphone.

— cory shaffer, cleveland.com, "'She still played with baby dolls': Mother of Alianna DeFreeze testifies at death penalty trial," 1 Feb. 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.

Origin and Etymology of cull

Middle English, from Anglo-French culier, coillir, from Latin colligere to bind together — more at collect

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

cull Synonyms

cull

noun

Definition of cull

: something rejected especially as being inferior or worthless

… how to separate good-looking pecans from culls.
—The Washington Post

Examples of cull in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of cull from the Web

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
But some ecologists suggest that the culls are damaging, and that the population estimates are over-optimistic.

— The Economist, "The culling of kangaroos divides Australia," 15 Mar. 2018
Previous Snap culls, which took place last year and earlier this year, were smaller than that now being reported, measuring a dozen or two apiece.

— david meyer, Fortune, "Snap Stock Slips as Snapchat Maker Prepares For a Fresh Round of Job Cuts," 8 Mar. 2018
The university's first and only other cull was in 2015.

— ann zaniewski, Detroit Free Press, "15 deer killed in first two days of cull at U-M Dearborn; hunt resumes Wednesday," 26 Feb. 2018
Over the last century, the chamber has staved off most efforts to decrease its size, although there was a big cull of hereditary peers at the end of the 20th century under then-Prime Minister Tony Blair.

— jenny gross, WSJ, "Talk About Peer Pressure! U.K.’s House of Lords Prepares to Get Smaller," 15 Dec. 2017
Between 1995 and 2012, wolves in Michigan and Wisconsin experienced six periods of legal culls and six stages of protection, making these states ripe for testing.

— National Geographic, "When the Government Kills Wolves, the Public May Follow Suit," 11 May 2016