WINNOW Synonyms: 123 Similar and Opposite Words

winnow

verb

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of winnow The leadership of the AI trade has been winnowed down to Alphabet along with memory stocks and the energy/electrification infrastructure suppliers, which are exploiting product scarcity to impose a quasi-tax on the builders. —

Michael Santoli, CNBC, 23 Feb. 2026 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 See All Example Sentences for winnow

Recent Examples of Synonyms for winnow

Verb

Jacobs is a cultural titan who found his voice in the late twentieth century, and his influences are mostly culled from that era, too.

— Naomi Fry, New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2026
Old works are juxtaposed next to modern oeuvres culled from other museums and the Guimet’s own collection.

— Jennifer Weil, Footwear News, 20 Mar. 2026