Definition of "winnow"

winnow

/ˈwɪnoʊ/

verb
third-person singular simple present winnows, present participle winnowing, simple past and past participle winnowed
1. (transitive, agriculture) To subject (granular material, especially food grain) to a current of air separating heavier and lighter components, as grain from chaff.
  Quotations
  [W]ind began to winnow the river delta's dried sediments.
  1998 January 3, Sid Perkins, “Thin Skin”, in Science News, volume 165, number 1, page 11
2. (transitive, figuratively) To separate, sift, analyse, or test by separating items having different values.
3. (transitive, literary) To blow upon or toss about by blowing; to set in motion as with a fan or wings.
  Quotations
  The light snow lay on the narrow and winding path before them, pure as if just fresh winnowed by the wind.
  1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), page 206
  Gulls average much larger than terns, with stouter build; the feet are larger and more ambulatorial, the wings are shorter and not so thin; the birds winnow the air in a steady course unlike the buoyant dashing flight of their relatives.
  1872, Elliott Coues, Key to North American Birds
4. (intransitive, literary, dated) To move about with a flapping motion, as of wings; to flutter.
noun
plural winnows
1. That which winnows or which is used in winnowing; a contrivance for fanning or winnowing grain.
2. The act of winnowing

Definition of "winnow"

winnow

verb

Quotations

Quotations

noun