Winnow definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

If you winnow a group of things or people, you reduce its size by separating the ones that are useful or relevant from the ones that are not. [literary]. EnglishDictionary Thesaurus WordLists Grammar EnglishEasyLearningGrammar GrammarPatterns EnglishUsage TeachingResources VideoGuides Conjugations Sentences Video LearnEnglish Videopronunciations Buildyourvocabulary Quiz Englishgrammar Englishcollocations Englishconfusables Englishidioms Englishusage Thematicwordlists English French German Italian Spanish Portuguese Hindi Chinese Korean Japanese EnglishDictionaryThesaurusSentencesConjugationGrammar Definitionof 'winnow'    WordFrequency Share× Credits× winnow (wɪnoʊ ) Wordforms:3rdpersonsingularpresent tensewinnows ,presentparticiplewinnowing ,pasttense,pastparticiplewinnowed verb Ifyouwinnowagroupofthingsorpeople,youreduceitssizebyseparatingtheonesthatareusefulorrelevantfromtheonesthatarenot. [literary]Administrationofficialshavewinnowedthelistofcandidatestothree.[VERBnoun] Synonyms:separate,fan,divide,sift MoreSynonymsofwinnow Phrasalverbs:Seewinnowout CollinsCOBUILDAdvancedLearner’sDictionary.Copyright©HarperCollinsPublishers Youmayalsolike EnglishQuizConfusables Synonymsof'winnow' LanguageLover'sBlog Translateyourtext PronunciationPlaylists Wordoftheday:'Zond' NEWfromCollins! EnglishGrammar CollinsApps WordFrequency winnowinBritishEnglish (ˈwɪnəʊ ) verb1. toseparate(grain)from(chaff)bymeansofawindorcurrentofair 2. (transitive) toexamineinordertoselectthedesirableelements 3. (transitive)archaic tobeat(theair)withwings 4. (transitive)rare toblowupon;fan noun5. a. adeviceforwinnowing b. theactorprocessofwinnowing CollinsEnglishDictionary.Copyright©HarperCollinsPublishers Derivedformswinnower(ˈwinnower)noun WordoriginOldEnglishwindwian;relatedtoOldHighGermanwintōn,Gothicdiswinthjan,Latinventilāre.Seewind1 WordFrequency winnowinAmericanEnglish (ˈwɪnoʊ ) verbtransitive1. a.  toblowthechafffrom(grain)bywindoraforcedcurrentofair b.  toblowoff(chaff)inthismanner 2.  toblowaway;scatter 3.  toanalyzeorexaminecarefullyinordertoseparatethevariouselements;sift 4. a.  toseparateoutoreliminate(thepoororuselessparts) b.  tosortoutorextract(thegoodorusefulparts) 5. Rare tofanwithoraswiththewings verbintransitive6.  towinnowgrain noun7.  theactofwinnowing 8.  anapparatusforwinnowing Webster’sNewWorldCollegeDictionary,4thEdition.Copyright©2010by HoughtonMifflinHarcourt.Allrightsreserved. Derivedformswinnower(ˈwinnower) noun WordoriginMEwinewen