as in culled
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 winnowed
These associates would then be winnowed out over time.
—
Atta Tarki, Harvard Business Review, 2 Oct. 2025
West Point cancelled an award ceremony for Tom Hanks, after having already winnowed its library of potentially offensive books.
—Louis Menand, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
The museum has closed and the entire Klairmont collection — which in recent years was winnowed down to 284 cars — will be sold by Mecum Auctions.
—Nina Metz, Boston Herald, 17 Sep. 2025
Overnight, this winnowed the field.
—Robert Hoban, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
The outcome has been regulatory and policy decisions that have winnowed vaccine access and development.
—Stephanie Armour, CNN Money, 18 Aug. 2025
As of early August, Airbus had winnowed the gap to just 20 units, with 12,155 lifetime A320-family shipments, according to the data.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2025
During his first five-year contract, Bennett, his staff and the board winnowed down the company’s budget to better match annual expenses and ticket sales, while also creating the Detour series of smaller, nontraditional opera works to expand the company’s audience.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Aug. 2025
Despite industry-wide budget cuts and a shortage of doc distributors for nonfiction social issue fare, Powers winnowed the list of 23 docs from over 1,000 submissions.
—Addie Morfoot, Variety, 6 Aug. 2025
Atta Tarki, Harvard Business Review, 2 Oct. 2025
West Point cancelled an award ceremony for Tom Hanks, after having already winnowed its library of potentially offensive books.
—Louis Menand, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
The museum has closed and the entire Klairmont collection — which in recent years was winnowed down to 284 cars — will be sold by Mecum Auctions.
—Nina Metz, Boston Herald, 17 Sep. 2025
Overnight, this winnowed the field.
—Robert Hoban, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
The outcome has been regulatory and policy decisions that have winnowed vaccine access and development.
—Stephanie Armour, CNN Money, 18 Aug. 2025
As of early August, Airbus had winnowed the gap to just 20 units, with 12,155 lifetime A320-family shipments, according to the data.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2025
During his first five-year contract, Bennett, his staff and the board winnowed down the company’s budget to better match annual expenses and ticket sales, while also creating the Detour series of smaller, nontraditional opera works to expand the company’s audience.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Aug. 2025
Despite industry-wide budget cuts and a shortage of doc distributors for nonfiction social issue fare, Powers winnowed the list of 23 docs from over 1,000 submissions.
—Addie Morfoot, Variety, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for winnowed
Verb
-
The heavy-metal legends spent this past summer on the European run of their half-century trek, which features an all-favorites set list culled from Iron Maiden’s first nine studio albums.—
Daniel Kreps,
Rolling Stone,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Privates and noncommissioned officers were culled from stateside divisions, trained as riflemen, and sent overseas.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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How dare this newcomer suggest that the towering maple between their properties be trimmed or cut down?—
Sophie Brookover,
Vulture,
31 Oct. 2025
-
It should be cooked thoroughly and not raw, trimmed of excess fat, cut into bite-sized pieces appropriate for the dog’s size and free from dog toxins such as garlic, onion or excessive salt.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The veteran coach believes the solution to the problem is to cut some games off the 82-game schedule, a view shared by Cleveland Cavaliers coach (and former Kerr assistant) Kenny Atkinson, who recently advocated for a 72-game season.—
Nick Friedell,
New York Times,
31 Oct. 2025
-
The 10-year Treasury yield was little changed Friday following this week’s interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve and the central bank’s more hawkish tone on future policy.—
Sean Conlon,Hugh Leask,
CNBC,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Take their recent turn on the Academy Museum Gala red carpet; Bieber opted for a sculptural corset dress by Schiaparelli, while Kendall went pared back in a black dress by The Row.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
30 Oct. 2025
-
The design is pared back, and the star of the show is the merchandise.—
Samantha Conti,
Footwear News,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
To start, there are the fabric covers—the latest issue featuring a series of iconic William Morris prints, full-bleed images and heavyweight paper at a time when most of the industry has been reduced to flimsy stock.—
Naomi Rougeau,
Robb Report,
31 Oct. 2025
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Staffing has reportedly been reduced by 50 percent in some areas since the shutdown started.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Winnowed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/winnowed. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
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