Winnow (Verb)
Meaning 1
Separate the chaff from grain by using air currents; "She stood there winnowing grain all day in the field".
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
Examples
- The farmer had to winnow the harvest to get rid of the unwanted chaff and husks.
- Women in many ancient cultures spent their days winnowing grain by hand in the sun.
- Winnow the oats carefully to remove any debris that might affect their quality.
- He stood on the hill, winnowing wheat as his ancestors had done before him.
- The winnowing process is often labor-intensive and requires patience and persistence.
Hypernyms
Related Words
Meaning 2
Blow away or off with a current of air; "winnow chaff"; "The speaker ceased to be an amusing little gnat to be fanned away and was kicked off the forum".
Classification
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc..
Examples
- The strong gust of wind helped to winnow away the dry leaves from the yard.
- Farmers traditionally used the breeze to winnow chaff from the harvested grains.
- To separate wheat from chaff, blowers are used to winnow away lighter, worthless particles.
- In a sudden storm, debris from the nearby tree was blown away, but only dead branches would winnow off.
- Air jets in quality control helped winnow defective parts from the manufacturing line.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Meaning 3
Blow on; "The wind was winnowing her hair"; "the wind winnowed the grass".
Classification
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming.
Examples
- The breeze winnowed through the dry leaves as the children played outside.
- As she stood at the edge of the cliff, the strong gusts were winnowing her long hair.
- A light gust was winnowing the seeds, separating the light, empty ones from the good seeds.
- The wind rippling across the field winnowed the tall grass in a rhythmic pattern.
- A soft zephyr was winnowing the wildflowers, gently swaying their petals in the bright sunlight.
Meaning 4
Select desirable parts from a group or list; "cull out the interesting letters from the poet's correspondence"; "winnow the finalists from the long list of applicants".
Classification
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting.
Examples
- After weeks of deliberation, the judges had to winnow the finalists from over 1,000 submissions to the writing competition.
- The research team took months to carefully winnow the relevant data points from the massive dataset.
- To create a cohesive visual identity, the art director winnowed the best logo concepts from the numerous designs submitted by the interns.
- The editor had to winnow the most important news stories from the constant stream of press releases and social media updates.
- At the talent show auditions, the judges winnowed the standout performers from the hundreds of applicants who tried out for a spot.