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
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Recent Examples of winnow
In a virtual news conference Tuesday, party Chair Rusty Hicks connected the surveys, which will be released from March 24 through early May, to his push to winnow the field of eight candidates to a smaller field.
—
Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 10 Mar. 2026
The club is winnowing down its pitching options.
—Evan Grant, Dallas Morning News, 9 Mar. 2026
And as this stuff shakes out, that 23 will probably winnow and what Dara’s talking about with the multichannel distribution is just messy.
—Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 3 Mar. 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
See All Example Sentences for winnow
Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 10 Mar. 2026
The club is winnowing down its pitching options.
—Evan Grant, Dallas Morning News, 9 Mar. 2026
And as this stuff shakes out, that 23 will probably winnow and what Dara’s talking about with the multichannel distribution is just messy.
—Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 3 Mar. 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
See All Example Sentences for winnow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for winnow
Verb
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When the news broke in newspapers in Zimbabwe that the government was planning to cull 600 elephants, Krog made contact with the conservancy.—
Kamala Thiagarajan,
NPR,
26 Apr. 2026
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The story has been decades in the making as the Colombian government tried multiple nonfatal methods of culling the hippo population, including neutering and relocating.—
Carlie Procell,
USA Today,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The expected tariff refund helped push the company’s stock up 6% in pre-market trading, before paring back gains.—
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez,
Fortune,
28 Apr. 2026
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Decisions of how Brazzell fits into this receiver room — which has 10 players on its official roster and will likely have to be pared down to five or six by August’s final cuts — are months away.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Regularly trim ground cover plants around trees.—
Lee Wallender,
The Spruce,
30 Apr. 2026
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Revisions also have trimmed 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls, a sign that the labor market remains under strain.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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At the same time, Bass has proposed cutting entirely the Animal Services Department’s annual budget for food, which was $200,000 last year, and also slashing the medical supplies budget to $49,000, from $388,000 last year.—
Sandra McDonald,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
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But now that the post-pandemic boom has well and truly gone bust, just showing up with a great looking timepiece isn’t going to cut it.—
Lily Templeton,
Footwear News,
1 May 2026
Verb
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Connecticut’s Climate Progress report, required every three years by the state legislature, shows how Connecticut is continuing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.—
Stephen Underwood,
Hartford Courant,
27 Apr. 2026
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Companies are taking steps to reduce their plastic consumption, according to Melissa Bastos, Cotton Incorporated director of corporate strategy and insights.—
Angela Velasquez,
Footwear News,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Doctors still had to sift through large volumes of information to find what mattered.—
Bruce Broussard,
Fortune,
29 Apr. 2026
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Geofence warrants gather all devices in a time and place, and then, aided by technology, police sift through for potential suspects.—
Anne Toomey McKenna,
The Conversation,
29 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Winnow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/winnow. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
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