weed out

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to separate out, remove, or eliminate (anything unwanted)

   to weed out troublesome students

Idioms and Phrases

Eliminate as inferior, unsuited, or unwanted, as in She was asked to weed out the unqualified applicants. This expression transfers removing weeds from a garden to removing unwanted elements from other enterprises. [First half of 1500s]

Example Sentences

County lawyers said they did what they could to weed out fraud, reviewing statements from plaintiffs and searching for whatever records and witnesses they could find.

From Los Angeles Times

Patrick McNicholas, who co-counsels cases with the firm, said the lawsuits were weeded out as part of the firm’s vetting process.

From Los Angeles Times

Why do you think so many employers avoid using the federal E-Verify system to weed out undocumented workers?

From Los Angeles Times

But Matt Britzman, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Lloyds had been "forced to take a more aggressive approach to weed out the lower performers".

From BBC

The design process also weeded out anything that looked too similar to current antibiotics.

From BBC

Related Words

• cull 
• derive 
• distill 
• elicit 
• exact 
• extort 
• extricate 
• glean 
• obtain 
• pluck 
• pry 
• pull 
• reap 
• separate 
• siphon 
• squeeze 
• withdraw 
• wrest 
• wring