winnow

Noun

  1. the act of separating grain from chaff; “the winnowing was done by women”

Verb

  1. separate the chaff from grain by using air currents; “She stood there winnowing grain all day in the field”
  2. blow on; “The wind was winnowing her hair”; “the wind winnowed the grass”
  3. select desirable parts from a group or list; “cull out the interesting letters from the poet’s correspondence”; “winnow the finalists from the long list of applicants”
  4. blow away or off with a current of air; “winnow chaff”; “The speaker ceased to be an amusing little gnat to be fanned away and was kicked off the forum”