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
Winners were chosen by a panel of 50 top automotive journalists who have driven each entrant extensively, winnowing down the field to nine finalists.
—
Ed Garsten, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
McGahern winnowed it to fewer than two hundred pages from drafts that exceeded one thousand.
—Sam Sacks, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled the shortlists for the 97th Oscars in 10 categories on Tuesday, winnowing the field of contenders across documentary, international feature, music, sound and visual effects.
—Josh Rottenberg, Los Angeles Times, 17 Dec. 2024
To winnow it down, the academy first relies on the Producers Guild of America: Which producers were the most involved?
—Brooks Barnes, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for winnow
Ed Garsten, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
McGahern winnowed it to fewer than two hundred pages from drafts that exceeded one thousand.
—Sam Sacks, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled the shortlists for the 97th Oscars in 10 categories on Tuesday, winnowing the field of contenders across documentary, international feature, music, sound and visual effects.
—Josh Rottenberg, Los Angeles Times, 17 Dec. 2024
To winnow it down, the academy first relies on the Producers Guild of America: Which producers were the most involved?
—Brooks Barnes, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for winnow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for winnow
Verb
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The Trump administration has hit recent road blocks in its attempts to cull federal jobs.—
Greg Iacurci,
CNBC,
7 Mar. 2025
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Advertisement One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public, said the purge could delete as many as 100,000 images or posts in total, when considering social media pages and other websites that are also being culled for DEI content.—
TARA COPP,
TIME,
6 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The tech-heavy index briefly reached a 10% decline from its most recent closing high, which is what the market considers a correction, but gains for Nvidia, Microsoft and other tech heavyweights helped pare those losses.—
Alex Veiga,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Mar. 2025
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The Party will rule not through force but through that final kind of efficiency: power pared so completely that only one regime’s vision remains.—
Megan Garber,
The Atlantic,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
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But the president could ask Education Secretary , , to trim the department within more narrow legal confines.—
Andrew Stanton,
Newsweek,
6 Mar. 2025
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Some parks have already trimmed hours or offerings, and some park visitors have already reported longer waits to enter parks ahead of their busy season.—
Kathleen Wong,
USA TODAY,
5 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Today, Meaghan Garvey offers an ontological bonus cut from her time in Sweden with King Nothingg.—
Meaghan Garvey,
Pitchfork,
27 Feb. 2025
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Another option for cutting expenses would be to shift more Medicaid costs to the states, which would also be a de facto cut in services, since states, even California, likely couldn’t afford to keep the plan as-is without that federal money.—
Anita Chabria,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The venue renovations have significantly increased hospitality and premium offerings with new pubs, clubs, restaurants and seating, while reducing the number of suites from 70 to 40.—
Kurt Badenhausen,
Sportico.com,
4 Mar. 2025
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Or has your life together reduced him to, as in your letter, a list of maddening attributes?—
James Parker,
The Atlantic,
4 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The winners will be those who can efficiently sift through vast amounts of data to create meaning–finding patterns, synthesizing, and connecting dots.—
Ann Kowal Smith,
Forbes,
25 Feb. 2025
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After recording tens of thousands of hours of sound, scientists used A.I. to sift through all the noise—and identify the distinctive call of the plains-wanderer.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
21 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Winnow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/winnow. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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