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
From that group, the Playwrights Project staff winnows down the number to a list of finalists and those scripts are read and judged by a group of theater professionals.
—
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Feb. 2026
Investigators then winnow down the group further by excluding people who, for instance, might have been out of the country when a crime was committed.
—Bill Chappell, NPR, 19 Feb. 2026
Is the only pleasure in her winnowing life to be denied?
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 17 Feb. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for winnow
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Feb. 2026
Investigators then winnow down the group further by excluding people who, for instance, might have been out of the country when a crime was committed.
—Bill Chappell, NPR, 19 Feb. 2026
Is the only pleasure in her winnowing life to be denied?
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 17 Feb. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for winnow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for winnow
Verb
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Although the store has culled most of its used books, Aragon-Shafi plans to still sell some of the used and rare inventory that West Side was first known for.—
Judith Kohler,
Denver Post,
6 Mar. 2026
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The culling perfectly played into ongoing fears that AI automation is coming for white-collar jobs, a major job market and economic disruption that workers are becoming increasingly worried about — and which clearly has execs salivating.—
Victor Tangermann,
Futurism,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Gains later pared some gains, and while large European defense stocks are up on average between 5% and 10% since the first strikes, Rheinmetall is largely flat over that period.—
Elsa Ohlen,
CNBC,
11 Mar. 2026
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But oil prices pared their gains through the day, initially on talks that seven of the world's largest economies could coordinate moves to push back on the spikes.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The city is on track to release a catalogue of eight pre-approved designs this year to streamline the process and trim costs on homeowners.—
Mark Dee
March 12,
Idaho Statesman,
12 Mar. 2026
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How To Dethatch Your Lawn The day before dethatching, mow your lawn as usual to trim the grass and remove excess debris from the lawn, then water the lawn lightly.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Even as Michigan State came roaring back in the second half, cutting the lead to just two in the final minute, UCLA never flinched.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Mar. 2026
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Orangefield cut the lead to 8 points a couple of times late in the game, but Cobb made 5 of 6 free throws in the final 46 seconds to keep the Bobcats at bay.—
Darren Lauber,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The thinking, according to airport officials, is to encourage riders to use the yet-to-open Automated People Mover, also known as Skylink, and to reduce vehicle traffic around the terminals.—
Karen Garcia,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
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From the guest's POV, drinking water is provided in reusable glass bottles, with water refilling stations across the property, and restaurant ingredients are sourced from the nearby partner South Farm and local suppliers to reduce the carbon footprint and support the community.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In the Gaza Strip, for example, the Israel Defense Forces have deployed AI tools such as The Gospel and Lavender to automatically sift through vast surveillance data and generate daily lists of bombing targets for analysts to review and act upon.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Mar. 2026
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In the early nineties, Larry Cornman developed a program that could sift through some of that sensor data to measure the air’s turbulence in real time.—
Burkhard Bilger,
New Yorker,
2 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Winnow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/winnow. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
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