as in to cull
to remove less desirable choices from a group or list
They winnowed the pool of applicants down to a few of the strongest candidates. I tried to winnow out the options that weren't a good value for the price.
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Recent Examples of winnow
The Minnesota Department of Transportation has winnowed thousands of submissions for its Name a Snowplow contest down to 30 finalists.
—
Anthony Bettin, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
All that standing and walking and winnowing down culminated with Tuesday night’s best in show event.
—Poupay Jutharat, Vogue, 4 Feb. 2026
After fermentation and toasting, the beans are winnowed and placed in a melanger, a stone grinder that runs for up to 72 to turn the beans into a velvety, smooth paste.
—Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 4 Feb. 2026
From there, researchers could winnow down their suspects to a couple million signals, then rank them by likelihood of ET origin after accounting for radio frequency interferences from sources like orbital satellites, TV broadcasts, and even kitchen microwaves.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 14 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for winnow
Anthony Bettin, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
All that standing and walking and winnowing down culminated with Tuesday night’s best in show event.
—Poupay Jutharat, Vogue, 4 Feb. 2026
After fermentation and toasting, the beans are winnowed and placed in a melanger, a stone grinder that runs for up to 72 to turn the beans into a velvety, smooth paste.
—Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 4 Feb. 2026
From there, researchers could winnow down their suspects to a couple million signals, then rank them by likelihood of ET origin after accounting for radio frequency interferences from sources like orbital satellites, TV broadcasts, and even kitchen microwaves.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 14 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for winnow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for winnow
Verb
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Georgiadou said that 263 cattle have already been culled and another 13,000 sheep, goats and swine will be destroyed.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
25 Feb. 2026
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There was a strong suspicion that the deployment of Meredith and his two valiant soldiers was more of a low-cost publicity stunt than a serious attempt to cull the emu population.—
Tom Hawking,
Popular Science,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard Peter Sarsgaard pared back his black and white suit, while his wife, filmmaker and actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, wore a look from McQueen’s pre-fall 2015 collection.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
23 Feb. 2026
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Evening functions called for something smaller and more contained, often pared down to a small clutch or simple wallet.—
Julia Rabinowitsch,
Vogue,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The jersey also includes a jock tag depicting a dove carrying an olive branch, while the Pride’s familiar purple trims the collar, cuffs and player lettering.—
Kyle Foley,
The Orlando Sentinel,
26 Feb. 2026
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Cheese quesadillas are sliced into inch-long planks, crusts are trimmed off sandwiches to stave off a potential meltdown, and even grapes are halved.—
Alaina Chou,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Sam Bennett scored with 35 seconds left to cut the deficit back to one but Florida could get no closer.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
28 Feb. 2026
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That deal, which required Iran to limit its nuclear program by, among other things, cutting enrichment levels and reducing centrifuges, took effect in 2016 and was due to expire 10 years after it was adopted.—
Michael Collins,
USA Today,
28 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But in the long run, that doesn’t do anything to dismantle networks of criminality or reduce the size of their operations.—
Angélica Durán-Martínez,
The Conversation,
24 Feb. 2026
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Others have sought to use cloud seeding to disperse fog at airports, tackle air pollution, reduce hail damage or even to manipulate the weather for major events, such as the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.—
Sam Meredith,
CNBC,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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With thousands of tips submitted in the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, how can investigators quickly sift through the large amount of data efficiently?—
Perry Vandell,
AZCentral.com,
27 Feb. 2026
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Tech companies will have to sift through the Supreme Court ruling and be prepared to be nimble as White House replacement tariffs come into view.—
George Avalos,
Mercury News,
23 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Winnow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/winnow. Accessed 3 Mar. 2026.
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