as in culls
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 winnows
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.
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Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Feb. 2026
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for winnows
Verb
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Fundrise culls its data from both public records and private databases.—
Diana Olick,
CNBC,
27 Jan. 2026
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The creative documentary filmmaker, a former Berkeley resident, culls together photos, home movies, songs and more to relate writer Andri Snær Magnason’s grieving process over the loss of relatives and a once-majestic glacier that is no more due to climate change.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The third round of voting trims the field to four restaurants.—
Susan Stapleton,
Des Moines Register,
25 Mar. 2026
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The Yale Repertory Theatre is using a 2019 adaptation by Frank Galati, which takes the standard Derek Prouse translation which has been around nearly as long as Ionesco original French script and trims it judiciously for maximum theatrical impact.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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By banning advertising by legal operators during live sporting events and sharply limiting promotions, the proposal drastically reduces the visibility of the regulated market.—
Cláudia Nunes,
The Orlando Sentinel,
2 Apr. 2026
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Technologies such as Revo-Su, which significantly reduces water consumption, and B210, which enables biodegradability in stretch fabrics, are direct outcomes of this focus.—
Angela Velasquez,
Footwear News,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Marvel Avengers Expansion Impressions The biggest strength of the Marvel Multiverse Role Playing Game expansions continues to be succinct writing that pares down decades of comic book history into a short but informative chapter.—
Rob Wieland,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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This is a sweet, redemptive film that pares back some of the more extreme dramatic elements of Perry’s earlier work to tell a straightforward, second-chance-at-love story.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
14 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But the core allegation cuts deeper than fees.—
Hanna Wickes,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
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The vote, on a proposal that requires a driver’s license or comparable ID to cast a ballot in federal elections, represents the latest attempt by Republicans to divide Democrats on a subject that cuts decidedly in their favor.—
David Sivak,
The Washington Examiner,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Try the Storm Chaser, which sends you into a zero-gravity fall, catches you in a funnel, then discards you into a pool below.—
Stacey Leasca,
Travel + Leisure,
18 Feb. 2026
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At the same time, Gans discards the psychological and spatial logic that gave meaning to the original telling’s dream-like sense of disorientation.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Winnows.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/winnows. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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