winnow

Etymology

From Middle English winewen, windewen, windwen, 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 Middle High German winden (“to winnow”), Icelandic vinsa (“to pick out, weed”), Latin vannus (“a winnowing basket”). See fan, van.

verb

1. (transitive, agriculture) To subject (granular material, especially food grain) to a current of air separating heavier and lighter components, as grain from chaff.
   ...wind began to winnow the river delta's dried sediments. 3 January 1998, Sid Perkins, “Thin Skin”, in Science News, volume 165, number 1, page 11
2. (transitive, figurative) 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.
   They winnowed the losers from the winners.
3. (transitive, literary) To blow upon or toss about by blowing; to set in motion as with a fan or wings.
   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

1. That which winnows or which is used in winnowing; a contrivance for fanning or winnowing grain.
2. The act of winnowing