winnow
To subject to a current of air separating heavier and lighter components, as grain…To subject (granular material, especially food grain) to a current of air separating heavier and lighter components, as grain from chaff.
» She stored blankets in an old winnowing-basket.
mccarras · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRTranslations
8 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 1
By meaning 2
Examples
1 sentencesShe stored blankets in an old winnowing-basket.
Meaning
4 senses(transitive)To subject (granular material, especially food grain) to a current of air separating heavier and lighter components, as grain from chaff.
worfeln, windsichten, trennen
ве́ятьvéjatʹ, отве́иватьotvéivatʹ, отве́ятьotvéjatʹ
ві́ятиvíjaty
separate the chaff from grain by using air currents
(figuratively, transitive)To separate, sift, analyse, or test by separating items having different values.
They winnowed the field to twelve.
They winnowed the winners from the losers.
trennen, separieren, aussortieren
відсіватиvidsivaty
(literary, transitive)To blow upon or toss about by blowing; to set in motion as with a fan or wings.
(dated, intransitive, literary)To move about with a flapping motion, as of wings; to flutter.
Origin
From Middle English wyndwen, from Old English windwian (“to winnow, fan, ventilate”), fromFrom Middle English wyndwen, from Old English windwian (“to winnow, fan, ventilate”), from Proto-West Germanic *windwōn, from Proto-Germanic *windwōną, *winþijaną (“to throw about, winnow”), from Proto-Indo-European *wē- (“to winnow, thresh”). Cognate with West Frisian wynje (“to winnow”), dialectal Dutch winden, winnen (“to winnow”), Middle High German winden (“to winnow”), Icelandic vinsa (“to pick out, weed”), Latin vannus (“a winnowing basket”). See fan, van.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
winnows, winnowing, winnowed, winnowedTenses
winnow · winnowed · will winnow · have winnowedPhrasal verbs
2 phrasal verbsSynonyms
4 synonymsWord family
9 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.