winnow

(wĭn'ō)

v., -nowed, -now·ing, -nows.

v.tr.

1. 1. To separate the chaff from (grain) by means of a current of air.
   2. To rid of undesirable parts.
2. To blow (chaff) off or away.
3. To blow away; scatter.
4. To blow on; fan: a breeze winnowing the tall grass.
5. To examine closely in order to separate the good from the bad; sift.
6. 1. To separate or get rid of (an undesirable part); eliminate: winnowing out the errors in logic.
   2. To sort or select (a desirable part); extract.

v.intr.

1. To separate grain from chaff.
2. To separate the good from the bad.

n.

1. A device for winnowing grain.
2. An act of winnowing.

[Middle English winnewen, alteration of windwen, from Old English windwian, from wind, wind. See wind¹.]

winnower win'now·er n.

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A privacy technique that is simpler than encrypting a message with a key. Chaff is the unusable part of a plant, and winnow means to separate the chaff so it can be discarded. Thus, chaff is sent (fake packets) along with real packets, and the chaff is winnowed at the other end by comparing a message authentication code (MAC) stored in each packet. The receiving end knows which are the valid MACs and which are not. See cryptography.

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verb

1. To set apart (one kind or type) from others: separate, sift, sort. See include/exclude.
2. To be in a state of motion, as air: blow¹, puff. See breath/breathlessness.

For a list of words related to winnow, see:

• Farming and Crops - winnow: (vb) blow off undesirable chaff from grain by current of air
• Descriptions of Sounds
• Judgments and Critiques - winnow: (vb) separate useful from useless elements

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See words rhyming with "winnower."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Winnow.

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - rense
v. intr. - blæse væk
n. - sigte, udskille

Nederlands (Dutch)
kaf van koren scheiden, zeven, wegblazen

Français (French)
v. tr. - (Agric) vanner, (fig) démêler
v. intr. - (Agric) vanner
n. - (Agric) van, action de vanner

Deutsch (German)
v. - worfeln, trennen, unterscheiden, fächeln, flattern
n. - Wanne, Durchsieben

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - λιχνίζω, ανεμίζω
n. - λίχνισμα, κοσκίνισμα, λιχνιστήρι

Italiano (Italian)
vagliare, vaglio

Português (Portuguese)
v. - joeirar, peneirar
n. - joeiramento (m)

Русский (Russian)
веялка, веять, отсеивать, развевать (о ветре)

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - aventar, escudriñar, seleccionar, analizar
v. intr. - aventar grano, aletear
n. - aventamiento, batimiento, aleteo

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - vanna, sålla
n. - agn

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
吹开糠皮, 把挑出来, 吹掉, 扬谷, 飞行, 分出好坏, 扬谷器

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 吹開糠皮, 把挑出來, 吹掉
v. intr. - 揚穀, 飛行, 分出好壞
n. - 揚穀, 揚穀器

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - (곡물 등을) 까부르다, (구하는 것을) 고르다, 날개치다
v. intr. - 키질하여 가르다, 선별하다, 날개치다
n. - 키, 까부르기

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 選び出す, 吹き乱す, 穀物をより分ける, 選別する
n. - ひる道具, ひる動作

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يغربل, يذري, يتنخل, تهب الريح, يطير مرفرفا بحناحيه (الاسم) مذراة, تهب الريح‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮זרה (תבואה), ניפה, הפריד‬
v. intr. - ‮זרה (תבואה), ניפה, הפריד‬
n. - ‮זורה (תבואה), נפה, מזרה‬

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