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
The pool was winnowed to 480 people who were invited to try out, with 80 ultimately chosen as new members.
—
Sofia Chierchio, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 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
Sofia Chierchio, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 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
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His staff, culled from a hodgepodge of local law-enforcement groups, is green.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
28 Aug. 2025
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today revealed 14 winners of its 2025 Student Academy Awards competition, culled from more than 3,100 entries spanning 988 colleges and universities around the world.—
Erik Pedersen,
Deadline,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
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However, Walmart has also trimmed some of its tech jobs in the Bay Area this year, WARN notices the company has filed with the state EDD show.—
George Avalos,
Mercury News,
10 Sep. 2025
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His hair, which had been neatly trimmed for a court appearance several months ago, was darker and disheveled, his face bearded.—
Kelly Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Others have cut bills by a factor of five.—
Matthew Kayser,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
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Jobless claims hit their highest level since 2021 last week, adding to recent labor market revisions that have fueled confidence the Fed will cut rates in September.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Utilities are reduced in phases, while security is often heightened and maintenance pared down to essentials.—
Kristin Mueller,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
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To make that possible, models are often pared down to conserve energy and processing power.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Among other policy changes, the bill brought back 2017 tax cuts, increased funding for deportation efforts and reduced who is eligible for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).—
Avalon Hester,
PEOPLE,
12 Sep. 2025
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However, the length of time the computer takes to respond is within the designer's control, and its perception can be reduced by giving prompt and accurate feedback, even if the operation's actual execution time is longer.—
Cameron Kaiser,
ArsTechnica,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Winnowed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/winnowed. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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