winnow
winnow — verb
- winnowpresent simple I / you / we / they
- winnowshe / she / it
- winnowedpast simple
- winnowing-ing form
1. to fan harvested grain so the breeze carries away the light chaff, leaving the h
to fan harvested grain so the breeze carries away the light chaff, leaving the heavier seeds behind.
Eitan spent the afternoon winnowing the barley he had harvested that morning.
The women sat in a circle, winnowing rice with flat bamboo trays.
winnow + grain type: winnow rice with a tray
Farmers winnow beans by pouring them between buckets on a windy day.
Grandma taught Layla how to winnow millet using a woven basket.
The workers winnowed the wheat in the barn before the evening meal.
文法句型
winnow + grain
2. to sort through a large set of people or items, keeping only those that meet a q
to sort through a large set of people or items, keeping only those that meet a quality standard and discarding the rest.
The hiring team winnowed two hundred applications down to just eight candidates.
winnow + down to + number: reducing to a specific count
Hugo had to winnow his book collection before moving to a smaller flat.
Detectives winnowed the list of suspects by checking alibis one by one.
Bao spent the weekend winnowing old emails, keeping only what still mattered.
Amara winnowed the best essays from the stack of three hundred submissions.
- cull
more severe — suggests killing or permanently removing the unwanted ones, as with a herd of animals
- sift through
more casual and hands-on; suggests examining each item individually rather than a batch process
- narrow down
more common and neutral in register; lacks the farming metaphor and the sense of discarding waste
- filter
broader term used in both everyday and technical contexts; implies passing through a screen or set of criteria
- accumulate
to gather more rather than reduce
- collect
to bring together rather than sift apart
文法句型
winnow + group/list + down to + number
用法筆記
This sense extends the farming image of separating grain from chaff to any process of sorting what is valuable from what is not. Common in journalism and formal writing.
常見錯誤
winnow — noun
1. the process of blowing air through harvested grain to carry the chaff away.
the process of blowing air through harvested grain to carry the chaff away.
The winnow of the rice crop took the whole village three days to finish.
After the winnow, the clean grain lay in a golden heap on the courtyard floor.
Rachid filmed the traditional winnow of wheat for his documentary on village life.
A good winnow leaves almost no chaff mixed in with the grain.
The children watched the winnow from the shade of the old mango tree.
2. a tool or machine that winnows grain by using moving air.
a tool or machine that winnows grain by using moving air.
Nora bought an old wooden winnow from a farmer at the Sunday market.
adjective + winnow: old wooden winnow
The winnow stood in the corner of the barn, covered with a layer of dust.
Before electric fans, every village had a hand-cranked winnow for cleaning grain.
Sahil repaired the broken winnow by replacing its worn-out belt and shaking tray.
The museum displayed a bronze winnow that was over two thousand years old.
- winnower
alternative term for the same device; slightly more formal
- fanning mill
a specific type of mechanical winnow, common in historical farming contexts