winnow
1
9.8
An act of separating grain from its dry outer parts by blowing air
- noun
- /ˈwɪnoʊ/
:
aventada
- Young Imo, a Japanese macaque (Kavanagh 1983), had shown that she could learn to wash sand off sweet potatoes, winnow rice from sand, and steal the winnowings from others.
Examples
-
Yes, the winnows have have placed the line.
-
Yes, the winnows have place the line.
-
The farmer used a traditional method to winnow the grain from the chaff in the open air.
-
After the harvest, they began to winnow the rice to ensure only the best grains were left.
-
During the festival, villagers gathered to winnow the maize, celebrating a successful crop.
Synonyms
winnowing
vswinnow
2
7.5
Separating grain from chaff by tossing it into the air
is the same action but named as the base verb rather than the noun form
sifting
vswinnow
1
3.6
The act of separating wanted parts from unwanted bits by passing them through a sieve
uses air currents rather than a sieve to separate grain from chaff
How Thorough
Surface Forms
Etymology
Winnow comes from an old English idea connected to wind ('moving air'), because a winnow was the act of using air or a fan to blow the light chaff away from the heavy grain. So, the noun winnow means the process of separating grain from chaff.