culling

American  

[kuhl-ing] / ˈkʌl ɪŋ /

noun

1. the act or process of selecting and removing desirable or undesirable individuals from a group.

   Reducing farm exposure to the bacteria will require more rigorous testing and culling of infected animals.

2. the process of gathering or collecting.

   To realize progress through the transfer of ideas, an informed culling of content and the extension of a shared knowledge base are essential.

3. the group of things resulting from either of these processes.

   The collection War in Context provides a crucial culling of stories that I would surely have missed had I not read it.

---

Etymology

Origin of culling

cull ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Amid a worrying Covid variant outbreak among minks -- when Denmark was the largest exporter of their furs -- she ordered the culling of some 17 million minks, an order which was later ruled illegal.

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

In 2020, it ordered the culling of all roughly 17 million farm-raised mink in Denmark to stop the spread of a coronavirus mutation, a directive it later admitted had no legal grounds.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

And in the Darwin-esque culling of leaders that followed, the ones that emerged victorious had little love for the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026

By culling the bears -- which can weigh up to half a ton and outrun a human -- officials hope to stem the threat across parts of northern Japan.

From Barron's • Dec. 24, 2025

A live oyster, a good one, when it hits the culling board has a tightly closed shell.

From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson

Related Words

• choice
• collection
• draft
• election
• excerpt
• option
• pick