winnow

verb win·now \ ˈwi-(ˌ)nō \

Definition of winnow

transitive verb

1 a (1) :to remove (something, such as chaff) by a current of air

(2) :to get rid of (something undesirable or unwanted) :remove —often used with out

winnow out certain inaccuracies
—Stanley Walker

b (1) :separate, sift

an old hand at winnowing what is true and significant
—Oscar Lewis

(2) :select

2 a :to treat (something, such as grain) by exposure to a current of air so that waste matter is eliminated

b :to free of unwanted or inferior elements :pare

c :narrow, reduce

winnowed the field to four contenders

3 :to blow on :fan

the wind winnowing his thin white hair
—Time

intransitive verb

1 :to separate chaff from grain by fanning

2 :to separate desirable and undesirable elements

—

winnower

play \ˈwi-nə-wər\ noun

See winnow defined for English-language learners

See winnow defined for kids

winnow was our Word of the Day on 03/27/2016. Hear the podcast!

Examples of winnow in a Sentence

The least qualified applicants were winnowed out of the initial pool.
Harvesters winnowed the chaff from the wheat.

Recent Examples of winnow from the Web

The next week and a half should winnow the field, and in the interim, the Astros should gain more clarity about the conditions of Keuchel and McCullers.

— jay jaffe, SI.com, "Astros Need To Make A Trade For Pitching Help, But Good Options Are Hard To Find," 18 Aug. 2017
From there, the United Bid Committee will winnow its options into a short list of 20 to 25 venues by September and prepare a detailed final bid that's due in early January, 2018.

— molly blue, OregonLive.com, "U.S.-led 2026 World Cup proposal includes 49 stadiums in 44 cities," 15 Aug. 2017
After an initial test followed by regional and national finals, entries were winnowed down to the 157 entrants, who converged in Anaheim earlier this month.

— barb darrow, Fortune, "Meet the 17-Year-Old Who Is the Champion of Microsoft Excel," 10 Aug. 2017
The proposals from local artists were winnowed from a list of five projects that applied for the $15,000 budgeted by the city for a downtown mural.

— steve lord, Aurora Beacon-News, "Two proposals left to be Aurora's next mural," 4 Aug. 2017
On The Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay has now winnowed her flock of suitors from two dozen to a mere four.

— melissa locker, Time, "The Bachelorette Recap: Home Town Dates," 18 July 2017
With the revolution that swept Fidel & Co. into Cuba on January 1, 1959, Kurlansky goes full reporter, trying to winnow fact from fiction and myth.

— peter lewis, The Christian Science Monitor, "'Havana' probes the mysteries and magic of the Cuban capital," 5 July 2017
In the two-part season premiere, when the field was winnowed from 50 to 20, Newton earned his white apron by wowing chefs Gordon Ramsay and Christina Tosi with a batch of chocolate cupcakes.

— david martindale, star-telegram.com, "Mike Newton puts Lone Star heritage on ‘MasterChef’ menu," 30 June 2017
Instead, Trump's election led to a list of 21 potential conservative successors, eventually winnowed to one.

— richard wolf, USA TODAY, "For Supreme Court, the term that just ended was the calm before the storm," 28 June 2017

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

winnow Has Old English Roots

Beginning as windwian in Old English, winnow first referred to the removal of chaff from grain by a current of air. This use was soon extended to describe the removal of anything undesirable or unwanted (a current example of this sense would be "winnowing out outdated information"). People then began using the word for the selection of the most desirable elements (as in "winnowing out the true statements from the lies"). The association of winnow with the movement of air led to the meaning "to beat with or as if with wings," but that use is rare enough that it is found only in Merriam-Webster Unabridged. The word's last meaning ("to blow on or fan") blew in at the turn of the 19th century.

Origin and Etymology of winnow

Middle English winewen, from Old English windwian to fan, winnow; akin to Old High German wintōn to fan, Latin vannus winnowing fan, ventus wind — more at wind

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

winnow

noun

Definition of winnow

1 :a device for winnowing

2 a :the action of winnowing

b :a motion resembling that of winnowing

Recent Examples of winnow from the Web

And by splintering the vote in Ohio and Florida, Mr. Cruz also risks handing Mr. Trump advantages in momentum and delegates that could be unstoppable, no matter how much the field winnows.

— jonathan martin, New York Times, "Democratic Debate: Analysis," 5 Mar. 2016

First Known Use of winnow

1580

Other Agriculture/Gardening Terms

fallow, graft, heirloom, loam, potash, soilage, swath, tilth, windfall

WINNOW Defined for English Language Learners

winnow

verb

Definition of winnow for English Language Learners

: to remove (people or things that are less important, desirable, etc.) from a larger group or list : to make (a list of possible choices) smaller by removing the less desirable choices
: to remove (the unwanted coverings of seeds) from grain by throwing the grain up in the air and letting the wind blow the unwanted parts away