winnow

Faced with far more applications than slots, prestigious colleges winnow the pool of prospective admits through consideration of their academic records, test scores, activities and personal attributes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025

So Zaslav has a more focused media group via Streaming & Studios, but leaving HBO Max in his hands will inevitably winnow down its once rich library even further.

From Slate ● Jun. 10, 2025

Rhode Island voters are casting their ballots Tuesday in a primary contest to winnow down a field of candidates vying for the U.S.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 4, 2023

To winnow them down, the Templeton World Charity Foundation has begun supporting large-scale studies that put different pairs of theories in a head-to-head test, in a process called adversarial collaboration.

From New York Times ● Jul. 1, 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

Rendell said he would prefer a model in which the primary season begins with four conventional debates, followed by six issue forums as the field winnows.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 11, 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

The two debates reflect a winnowed field of mayoral hopefuls who are leading the pack both in polling and in money raised ahead of the June 2 primary.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026

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

A winnowed cattle supply has driven up prices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2025

Per the Hollywood Reporter, Merit’s measly weekly viewer numbers soon winnowed down further, to 17,000.

From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2025

His teeth were winnowed away by a vexatious Grisha, and now he can eat only pudding.”

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

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

Discovery’s winnowing of bidders is expected to accelerate this week.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2025

Squeezing through its aperture, it’s easy to reflect on the winnowing that happens at the end of our days, as physical, mental and other abilities slowly fade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025

Everybody knew it was his mother, Kate, who saved him from affliction and the early winnowing that is every plantation slave’s first trial.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead