winnowing

verb

present participle of winnow
as in culling
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 winnowing With 21 applicants to choose from, the Miami-Dade School Board kicked off the process of winnowing down that field to select a new superintendent at a special meeting Wednesday. — Austin Horn june 25, Miami Herald, 25 June 2026 Even in the face of Comcast’s subscriber-winnowing move to shift NESN to its pricier service tier, the network’s ratings continue to grow. — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 12 June 2026 Iowa’s legislative funnel deadline has done its job again, winnowing the list of bills that still could become laws this year. — Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register, 20 Mar. 2026 The club is winnowing down its pitching options. — Evan Grant, Dallas Morning News, 9 Mar. 2026 Is the only pleasure in her winnowing life to be denied? — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 17 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 The fewer skiing trails and snow resorts that exist around the world, the more expensive and inaccessible these sports will become, winnowing the potential pool of future Olympians further. — Laura Millan, Bloomberg, 4 Feb. 2026 As in baseball, the awards race may be winnowing to the two true outcomes — a world where Best Picture nominees are either a huge Hollywood blockbuster or a foreign-language film from Cannes. — Nate Jones, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for winnowing
  1. culling
  2. trimming
  3. cutting
  4. reducing
  5. paring
  6. discarding
Verb
  • Many turkey and egg producers do want to vaccinate their birds (tens of millions of turkeys have also died due to H5N1 and resulting culling since 2022), and there are several vaccines that the USDA has deemed safe and effective.
    — Kenny Torrella, Vox, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Those who support the baboons being removed say the only serious alternative is culling.
    — Will Barker, TheWeek, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of culling
Verb
  • The younger Bolsonaro's other proposals include trimming the size of the Brazilian state to boost economic growth.
    — Carrie Kahn, NPR, 23 Oct. 2026
  • But new technologies are opening the door to transition a portion of the inputs from petrochemicals to plants, trimming the environmental impact of these fibers.
    — Fairchild Studio, Footwear News, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of trimming
Verb
  • Leslie took issue with a recent stunt Kennedy had pulled at the hospital, which involved making a surprise appearance for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open his signature vaccine injury clinic.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Stephanie Keith | Bloomberg | Getty Images American Express is cutting thousands of employees as the leading credit card company prepares for artificial intelligence to take over more of its internal processes.
    — Hugh Son, CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of cutting
Verb
  • Climate policies are reducing emissions Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement just over a decade ago, global renewable electricity capacity has grown three times faster than anticipated, while solar PV build-out has increased seven times faster.
    — Simmone Shah, Time, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The filter also makes the page look like a poster left too long in the sun, washing it out and reducing contrast compared to monochrome e-readers.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of reducing
Verb
  • Shares were last down under 2%, paring losses after declining more than 6% in early trading Wednesday.
    — Jenny Lee, CNBC, 28 Oct. 2026
  • In other stock markets abroad, indexes in Europe dipped after paring bigger losses from earlier in the day.
    — Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of paring
Verb
  • Still, discarding more than one fourth of a Tarantino script feels like a pretty bold move.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The vehicle sheds these boosters during ascent before discarding its protective payload fairings.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of discarding

Browse Nearby Words

winnowed (out)
winnowing
winnows
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Cite this Entry

“Winnowing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/winnowing. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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