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Winnowing   /wˈɪnˌoʊɪŋ/   Listen
verb
Winnow  v. t.  (past & past part. winnowed; pres. part. winnowing)  
1.
To separate, and drive off, the chaff from by means of wind; to fan; as, to winnow grain. "Ho winnoweth barley to-night in the threshing floor."
2.
To sift, as for the purpose of separating falsehood from truth; to separate, as bad from good. "Winnow well this thought, and you shall find This light as chaff that flies before the wind."
3.
To beat with wings, or as with wings.(Poetic) "Now on the polar winds; then with quick fan Winnows the buxom air."



Winnow  v. i.  To separate chaff from grain. "Winnow not with every wind."



noun
Winnowing  n.  The act of one who, or that which, winnows.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Winnowing" Quotes from Famous Books



... commands a wide view of the neighbouring shore and ocean, he seems calmly to contemplate the motions of the various feathered tribes that pursue their busy avocations below; the snow-white gulls slowly winnowing the air; the busy fringes coursing along the sands; trains of ducks streaming over the surface; silent and watchful cranes, intent and wading; clamorous crows; and all the winged multitudes that subsist by the bounty of this vast liquid magazine of nature. ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 17, - Issue 493, June 11, 1831 • Various

... and in which there were only a few rivulets left running, they had fastened a hurdle of bamboo, and thrown up a shallow dam behind it. The water which collected was thrown over the dam with a long-handled winnowing shovel. The shovel was tied to a bamboo frame work ten feet high, the elasticity of which made the work much easier. As soon as the pool was emptied, the fisherman was easily able to pick out of the mud a quantity of small ...
— The Former Philippines thru Foreign Eyes • Fedor Jagor; Tomas de Comyn; Chas. Wilkes; Rudolf Virchow.

... nearer still, floating slowly, slowly, like a gull over the sea; he could make out its smooth nose, its low parapet beyond, the steersman's head motionless; he could even hear now the soft winnowing of the screw—and then he saw that for which he ...
— Lord of the World • Robert Hugh Benson

... contents, and unluckily, too, of that very portion which, from its reference to the secret pursuits and feelings of the writer, would the most livelily pique and gratify the curiosity of the reader. Enough, however, will, I trust, still remain, even after all this necessary winnowing, to enlarge still further the view we have here opened into the interior of the poet's life and habits, and to indulge harmlessly that taste, as general as it is natural, which leads us to contemplate with pleasure a great mind in its undress, and to rejoice in the discovery, ...
— Life of Lord Byron, Vol. II - With His Letters and Journals • Thomas Moore

... wing, whether moral suasion or legal suasion, its course has been a spiral one. It will never accomplish its mission in this world, until it strikes the air with equal vans, each wing keeping time with the other, both together winnowing the earth of the tempter ...
— Wit, Humor, Reason, Rhetoric, Prose, Poetry and Story Woven into Eight Popular Lectures • George W. Bain


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