winnow ˈwi-(ˌ)nō verb
noun: the act of separating grain from chaff
verb: separate the chaff from by using air currents
verb: blow on
verb: blow away or off with a current of air
verb: select desirable parts from a group or list
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The word winnow has appeared in 19 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on June 30 in “Westminster Dog Show Photos: Judgment Day” by Andrew Das:
A French bulldog named Mathew — wait, shouldn’t that be Mathieu? — won the nonsporting group, and an Old English Sheepdog called Connor was judged the best of the herding entries. (He also looked big enough to eat a couple of them if the result had not gone his way.)
On Saturday night, the judges at the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show whittled hundreds of entries down to four group winners. On Sunday — with judging in three more groups — the field will winnow to the final seven dogs who will compete for Best in Show.
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word winnow in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how winnow can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
If you enjoy this daily challenge, try one of our monthly vocabulary challenges.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
