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Winnow Has Old English Roots
As one Bob Dylan song goes, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” In fact, all you need to do is hold up a dandelion puff the next time there’s a breeze blowing, and watch the wind winnow the silver-white seeds from the rest of the head. Winnow and wind are both ancient words in English, and both share an ancestor with the Latin word for wind, ventus. Winnow first applied to the removal of chaff (seed coverings and other unwanted debris) from grain using the wind or other air current. This use was soon extended to describe the removal of anything undesirable or unwanted (a current example of this sense would be “winnowing out sensitive material”). People then began using the word for the selection of the most desirable elements (as in “winnowing down the list to the most qualified applicants”). Although these senses are more familiar today to most English users than the one used in processing grain, if you have trouble remembering any of them, just remember that the answer, friend, is blowing in the wind.
Examples of winnow in a Sentence
Brian Steinberg, Variety, 2 Apr. 2025
On the last day of the season, when the apprentices had been winnowed from 16 to two, then-emcee Donald Trump fired Annie on national television in favor of the comedienne Joan Rivers.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Mar. 2025
Sundance winnowed them down to the 67 that could meet a variety of requirements, including adequate screening and lodging locations and proximity to a sizable international airport.
—Nicole Sperling, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
Michigan State slowly but surely chipped away, winnowing the Lobos’ early 10-point lead to two by halftime, then wresting away control in the second half.
—Justin Williams, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for winnow
Cite this Entry
“Winnow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/winnow. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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