culled; culling; culls
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
culler
noun
: something rejected especially as being inferior or worthless
… how to separate good-looking pecans from culls.—
The Washington Post
The Washington Post
Synonyms
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 WebAlice Park, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
But by waiting until every team in baseball had to cull their roster to 26 players, the Giants stand a chance (even a slim one) of getting Bart to Sacramento.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 1 Apr. 2024
Such was the case in 2022 when a man who was involved in culling infected poultry in Colorado became the country’s first ever human case of H5 flu.
—Helen Branswell, STAT, 1 Apr. 2024
There is a special panel culled from the 50 selectors who provide the senior finalists.
—Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Feb. 2024
Yet, experts say, culling bears is far from the best way to prevent future tragedies.
—Tristan Kennedy, WIRED, 21 Mar. 2024
Farmers blame crows for crop damage, and hunters shoot hundreds of thousands of the birds each year; in Paris, some district managers wanted permission to cull them for tearing into trash bags and digging up lawns.
—Ben Crair, The New Yorker, 5 Mar. 2024
This latest batch of sales came after previously culling 588,200 shares in November, 688,400 in December, and 447,200 in January.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2024
Within that source conversation are numerous potential snippets that are computationally culled and then stored in a special storage area intended to contain the snippets and can be readily searched for their reuse.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
Tristan Kennedy, WIRED, 21 Mar. 2024
The fallout from Warner Music Group’s company-wide cull has already reached Australia, where the head of the domestic Warner Chappell company, Matthew Capper, is understood to be among the departures.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 9 Feb. 2024
This isn’t the first time McLeod has put forward a shark cull.
—Sage Marshall, Field & Stream, 17 Jan. 2024
Eventually, there will be a cull—Disney brass are already talking about cutting Marvel and other shows—but what remains will be wilder and more interesting than what’s come before.
—Angela Watercutter, WIRED, 16 Jan. 2024
Google hasn’t released any figures for how many accounts have been included in the cull list, but the security benefits are likely only part of the company's equation.
—Janhoi McGregor, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023
The cull of staff at the Swiss lender will dramatically worsen what was already a dismal year for financial sector jobs worldwide, after Wall Street investment banks including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announced their own cuts of thousands of staff.
—Laura Benitez, Fortune, 27 June 2023
Each year, wildlife managers would choose a number of elephants to cull—usually somewhere from 350 to 500.
—Katharine Gammon, The Atlantic, 1 Dec. 2023
And bear hunts are returning to states that had previously prohibited them, including in New Jersey, which re-legalized a limited cull last fall.
—Amelia Nierenberg, New York Times, 24 Aug. 2023
Verb
The company also culled more than 3% of its flock in response to the outbreak.
—Alice Park, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
But by waiting until every team in baseball had to cull their roster to 26 players, the Giants stand a chance (even a slim one) of getting Bart to Sacramento.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 1 Apr. 2024
Such was the case in 2022 when a man who was involved in culling infected poultry in Colorado became the country’s first ever human case of H5 flu.
—Helen Branswell, STAT, 1 Apr. 2024
There is a special panel culled from the 50 selectors who provide the senior finalists.
—Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Feb. 2024
Yet, experts say, culling bears is far from the best way to prevent future tragedies.
—Tristan Kennedy, WIRED, 21 Mar. 2024
Farmers blame crows for crop damage, and hunters shoot hundreds of thousands of the birds each year; in Paris, some district managers wanted permission to cull them for tearing into trash bags and digging up lawns.
—Ben Crair, The New Yorker, 5 Mar. 2024
This latest batch of sales came after previously culling 588,200 shares in November, 688,400 in December, and 447,200 in January.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2024
Within that source conversation are numerous potential snippets that are computationally culled and then stored in a special storage area intended to contain the snippets and can be readily searched for their reuse.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
Noun
In 2021, a 57-year-old man was killed by a bear in the same national park, stoking community tensions about their presence and leading to calls for a cull.
—Tristan Kennedy, WIRED, 21 Mar. 2024
The fallout from Warner Music Group’s company-wide cull has already reached Australia, where the head of the domestic Warner Chappell company, Matthew Capper, is understood to be among the departures.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 9 Feb. 2024
This isn’t the first time McLeod has put forward a shark cull.
—Sage Marshall, Field & Stream, 17 Jan. 2024
Eventually, there will be a cull—Disney brass are already talking about cutting Marvel and other shows—but what remains will be wilder and more interesting than what’s come before.
—Angela Watercutter, WIRED, 16 Jan. 2024
Google hasn’t released any figures for how many accounts have been included in the cull list, but the security benefits are likely only part of the company's equation.
—Janhoi McGregor, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023
The cull of staff at the Swiss lender will dramatically worsen what was already a dismal year for financial sector jobs worldwide, after Wall Street investment banks including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announced their own cuts of thousands of staff.
—Laura Benitez, Fortune, 27 June 2023
Each year, wildlife managers would choose a number of elephants to cull—usually somewhere from 350 to 500.
—Katharine Gammon, The Atlantic, 1 Dec. 2023
And bear hunts are returning to states that had previously prohibited them, including in New Jersey, which re-legalized a limited cull last fall.
—Amelia Nierenberg, New York Times, 24 Aug. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cull.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Verb and Noun
Middle English, from Anglo-French culier, coillir, from Latin colligere to bind together — more at collect
First Known Use
Verb
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun
1809, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of cull was
in the 13th century
Dictionary Entries Near cull
Cite this Entry
“Cull.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cull. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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