winnow

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.

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

The point of the process is to winnow the field to a manageable size, and winnowed the field was.

From Slate • Jan. 20, 2024

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

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

Then, we came and gathered up what remained of the paddy and took it away to thresh and winnow.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya