winnow
Americanverb (used with object)
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winnows,
present (3rd person singular)
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winnowed,
past participle, past
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winnowing
present participle
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to free (grain) from the lighter particles of chaff, dirt, etc., especially by throwing it into the air and allowing the wind or a forced current of air to blow away impurities.
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to drive or blow (chaff, dirt, etc.) away by fanning.
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to blow upon; fan.
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to subject to some process of separating or distinguishing; analyze critically; sift.
to winnow a mass of statements.
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to separate or distinguish (valuable from worthless parts) (sometimes followed byout ).
to winnow falsehood from truth.
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to pursue (a course) with flapping wings in flying.
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to fan or stir (the air) as with the wings in flying.
verb (used without object)
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winnows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
winnowed,
past participle, past
-
winnowing
present participle
-
to free grain from chaff by wind or driven air.
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to fly with flapping wings; flutter.
noun
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a device or contrivance used for winnowing.
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an act of winnowing.
verb
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to separate (grain) from (chaff) by means of a wind or current of air
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(tr) to examine in order to select the desirable elements
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archaic (tr) to beat (the air) with wings
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rare (tr) to blow upon; fan
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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winnowsimple
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winnowssimple
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have winnowedperfect
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has winnowedperfect
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am winnowingprogressive
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are winnowingprogressive
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is winnowingprogressive
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have been winnowingperfect progressive
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has been winnowingperfect progressive
Past
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winnowedsimple
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had winnowedperfect
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was winnowingprogressive
-
were winnowingprogressive
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had been winnowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of winnow
before 900; Middle English win ( d ) wen (v.), Old English windwian, derivative of wind wind 1
Explanation
To winnow is to blow something away until you are left with what you want, like grain from chaff. If you only want your favorite people to attend your party, you will need to winnow down the guest list from 300 to 30. To winnow is to use air to “separate the wheat from the chaff" — literally or figuratively. If a coach winnows down the top NBA draft picks to his number one choice, then he'll focus his negotiations on that player. Chances are, if you encounter the word winnow on a given day, it is probably not in the literal context of grain.
Vocabulary lists containing winnow
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Mythology
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
As the job market cools, they are both raising the bar for entry-level jobs and seeking more consistent criteria to winnow the candidate pool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
Ahead of Iowa, Ms. Haley had been looking to winnow the field.
From New York Times ● Jan. 21, 2024
The point of the process is to winnow the field to a manageable size, and winnowed the field was.
From Slate ● Jan. 20, 2024
Sound Transit’s governing board has started to focus on a future Lynnwood-to-Everett line, by voting Thursday to winnow the possible station sites in busy neighborhoods.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 23, 2023
How was she to winnow down her countless questions to a mere troika?
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Then the RNA winnows the contending olfactory-receptor genes down to one.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 21, 2023
It progressively winnows out starlight, and stacks frame after frame to allow any faint planetary light to accumulate and eventually be seen.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 10, 2021
Brant was one of those Goldberg wanted to serve; a team of 100 readers winnows down the submissions, but she makes the final determinations.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 16, 2019
Evolution is blind and evolutionary progress is a misnomer; natural selection carves and winnows according to the ever-changing status quo.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2019
It winnows through the stones as we watch, bubbling into the undeserving earth.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
What’s the point of watching a game that can be winnowed down to a series of inputs and outputs?
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2026
But its allure is being winnowed away by the noxious Russian thistle, the spread of which is entirely the fault of the ceaseless and unforgiving prairie wind.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
Per the Hollywood Reporter, Merit’s measly weekly viewer numbers soon winnowed down further, to 17,000.
From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2025
Even at these lower-than-recommended levels, her appetite soon winnowed and she began to shed weight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2024
The sieving winnowed out tiny pebbles and other impurities.
From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park
But there’s an upside to gradually winnowing a lifetime of possessions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Ten stocks survived this winnowing process, and they are listed in ascending order of their volatility.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 6, 2026
The winnowing of victims has been the result of byzantine legal procedures, strict vetting and tightened eligibility rules, which victims told ProPublica and the Inquirer took them by surprise.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026
Ask DePetro why someone might prefer his content to the nightly news, and he’ll gesture toward the rapidly winnowing media industry.
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026
We worked through the days and in the twilight getting in the rice, and then we worked three more days draining the fields and clearing them, and then three more nights sifting and winnowing.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
