winnow

• Nom désignant l'action de séparer le grain de la balle ou de l'ivraie, généralement en projetant le mélange dans l'air ou en le soumettant à un courant d'air.

A noun referring to the act of separating grain from chaff, typically by using a current of air or by tossing the mixture into the wind.

1. Act of separating grain from chaffC1formal

   The process of blowing air through grain to remove the lighter chaff, traditionally done after threshing.

   Action de vanner

   • The farmer performed the winnow by tossing the grain into the wind.
   • After the harvest, the winnow was done to clean the wheat.
   • The winnow separated the usable grain from the husks.

   Synonymeswinnowing

• Verbe utilisé pour désigner l'action de séparer ou d'éliminer les éléments indésirables d'un ensemble, ou pour vanner la balle du grain.

A verb used to indicate the act of separating or removing unwanted elements from a group, or to blow away chaff from grain.

1. Separate grain from chaffC1formal

   To blow air through grain in order to remove the lighter chaff, typically using wind or a fan.

   Vanner

   • Farmers used to winnow wheat by tossing it into the air.
   • The machine winnows the grain efficiently.
   • She watched them winnow the barley on a windy day.

   Synonymesfansift

2. Blow onC1formal

   To blow air onto something, often to clean or separate it.

   Vanner

   • The wind winnowed the dust from the pile of leaves.
   • He winnowed the ashes to find the remaining embers.
   • The breeze winnowed the smoke away from the campfire.

   Synonymesblowfanpuffwaft

3. Select or siftC1formal

   To examine a group or list carefully and choose the most useful or valuable parts.

   Trier, sélectionner

   • The committee winnowed the applicants down to five finalists.
   • We need to winnow the data to find the relevant information.
   • She winnowed the list of ideas to the most promising ones.

   Synonymescullextractfilterscreenselectseparatesiftsort

   Antonymesamalgamatecombinemergemixpoolunite

4. Blow away or offC1formal

   To remove or disperse something using a current of air.

   disperser par un courant d'air

   • The strong wind winnowed the leaves from the trees.
   • He winnowed the dust off the old book with a gentle breath.
   • The fan winnowed the papers across the room.

   Synonymesdispersefanscatterwaft

Variantes phrasalwinnow out