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
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
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
See All Example Sentences for winnow
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
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
See All Example Sentences for winnow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for winnow
Verb
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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
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Many of these models are trained on stupendously large datasets comprising material culled from online sources, from which broader statistical patterns can be extracted and discerned.—
Patrick R. Crowley,
Artforum,
1 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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Though the system managed only a dim glow, Lorna was still grateful for the flick of a switch rather than the toil of refilling oil lamps and trimming candles.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Mar. 2026
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Looking like an early aughts version of her mom, the model posed for a watery photo shoot in a sleeveless chiffon shift dress, as well as a a gauzy white sundress with spaghetti straps and lace trim.—
Chanel Vargas,
InStyle,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Idaho lawmakers are trying to balance the budget this year after cutting over $450 million in revenue in 2025.—
Idaho Statesman,
Idaho Statesman,
7 Mar. 2026
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One piece of legislation that's drawn a lot of attention is a resolution that could have cut property taxes for homeowners by 75% or more through a state constitutional amendment.—
Dan Raby,
CBS News,
6 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 12 Mar. 2026.
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