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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of winnow
She is squarely focused on defending public educators from the threats to winnow down the agency and launched the caucus in response to them.
—
Arthur Jones Ii, ABC News, 9 May 2025
That winnowed the field of borrowers from roughly 42 million to a total of 19.6 million borrowers.
—Anne Marie D. Lee, CBS News, 5 May 2025
The National Science Foundation canceled 73 additional grants on May 9 as the Department of Government Efficiency continues winnowing the agency's projects, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the changes.
—Riley Beggin, USA Today, 9 May 2025
Finding Sundance’s new home was a yearlong affair, which included winnowing down the finalists from 67 cities that sent in comprehensive information.
—Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for winnow
Arthur Jones Ii, ABC News, 9 May 2025
That winnowed the field of borrowers from roughly 42 million to a total of 19.6 million borrowers.
—Anne Marie D. Lee, CBS News, 5 May 2025
The National Science Foundation canceled 73 additional grants on May 9 as the Department of Government Efficiency continues winnowing the agency's projects, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the changes.
—Riley Beggin, USA Today, 9 May 2025
Finding Sundance’s new home was a yearlong affair, which included winnowing down the finalists from 67 cities that sent in comprehensive information.
—Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for winnow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for winnow
Verb
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Here are nine reasons, culled from multiple sources: 1.—
Jim Gorzelany,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2025
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In the seminal teen drama's first episode, Joey (Katie Holmes) reveals that her father is in prison for trafficking marijuana, a detail Dawson's Creek and The Waterfront creator Kevin Williamson culled from his own life.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
19 June 2025
Verb
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Each has flares of humor and surprise, but there is something cramped about them too, a sense of exhausted expectations, of a genre being pared down to a bundle of tropes.—
Charlie Lee,
Harpers Magazine,
18 June 2025
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University Endowment Tax The Senate bill significantly pares back the House’s plans to increase taxes on investment income generated by private university endowments.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
17 June 2025
Verb
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There had been rumors that Brown could be traded this offseason, as the Celtics continue to trim a significant amount of money off their books.—
Ricardo Klein,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 June 2025
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That 90 gets trimmed to 53 by the start of the season.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
23 June 2025
Verb
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The prospect of trying to cut open a stubborn 5-4-1 block in the Orlando heat could have become torturous quite quickly.—
Liam Tharme,
New York Times,
28 June 2025
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At that point, roughly 70 million Social Security recipients would see their monthly benefits cut by about 20%.—
Alain Sherter,
CBS News,
27 June 2025
Verb
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To reduce background noise when making phone calls or joining in with a video meeting, Headphone (1) has a 4-microphone ENC system that’s backed up by AI.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
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Using the current policy baseline, the CBO found that the legislation would reduce the deficit by $508 billion.—
Samantha-Jo Roth,
The Washington Examiner,
1 July 2025
Verb
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It can be used to make product recommendations, sift through product reviews, solve customer service inquiries and track and find lower prices.—
Rytis Lauris,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2025
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The project began in the summer of 2024, when Shooter Jennings was sifting through numerous high-resolution multi-track transfers in his dad’s studio recordings.—
Jessica Nicholson,
Billboard,
16 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Winnow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/winnow. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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