winnow

1 of 2

verb

win·​now ˈwi-(ˌ)nō 

winnowed; winnowing; winnows

transitive verb

1

a(1)

: to remove (something, such as chaff) by a current of air

(2)

: to get rid of (something undesirable or unwanted) : remove

—often used with out

winnow out certain inaccuracies

—Stanley Walker

b(1)

: separate, sift

an old hand at winnowing what is true and significant

—Oscar Lewis

(2)

: select

2

a

: to treat (something, such as grain) by exposure to a current of air so that waste matter is eliminated

b

: to free of unwanted or inferior elements : pare

c

: narrow, reduce

winnowed the field to four contenders

3

: to blow on : fan

the wind winnowing his thin white hair

—Time

intransitive verb

1

: to separate chaff from grain by fanning

2

: to separate desirable and undesirable elements

winnower

ˈwi-nə-wər 

noun

winnow

2 of 2

noun

1

: a device for winnowing

2

a

: the action of winnowing

b

: a motion resembling that of winnowing

Did you know?

Winnow Has Old English Roots

As one Bob Dylan song goes, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” In fact, all you need to do is hold up a dandelion puff the next time there’s a breeze blowing, and watch the wind winnow the silver-white seeds from the rest of the head. Winnow and wind are both ancient words in English, and both share an ancestor with the Latin word for wind, ventus. Winnow first applied to the removal of chaff (seed coverings and other unwanted debris) from grain using the wind or other air current. This use was soon extended to describe the removal of anything undesirable or unwanted (a current example of this sense would be “winnowing out sensitive material”). People then began using the word for the selection of the most desirable elements (as in “winnowing down the list to the most qualified applicants”). Although these senses are more familiar today to most English users than the one used in processing grain, if you have trouble remembering any of them, just remember that the answer, friend, is blowing in the wind.

Examples of winnow in a Sentence

Verb

The least qualified applicants were winnowed out of the initial pool.

Harvesters winnowed the chaff from the wheat.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

How does a concerned citizen participate in such seemingly arbitrary and unknowable politics when everything has been winnowed down to the results of one election? —Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2024

Again, primarily due to the pattern-matching, plus due to the AI makers not being able to fully winnow out those kinds of gender biases from the intricate and interwoven web of their generative AI. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 18 Oct. 2024

In some cases, the candidate field is winnowed to two choices in our spring primary, where turnout is usually 40% lower than November, with even greater drops among voters of color and young people. —Steve Chessin, The Mercury News, 25 Sep. 2024

The field of candidates would be winnowed down by a committee before being added to ballots. —Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English winewen, from Old English windwian to fan, winnow; akin to Old High German wintōn to fan, Latin vannus winnowing fan, ventus wind — more at wind entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a(1)

Noun

1580, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

winnow

verb

win·​now

ˈwin-ō

1

a

: to remove by a current of air the parts separated from grain in threshing

b

: to expose grain to a current of air to remove waste

2

: to sort or separate as if by winnowing

winnowed the guest list down to 20

winnower

ˈwin-ə-wər

noun