cull
Remove the weak
Cull means to select from a group, typically to remove inferior members or reduce numbers.
Farmers cull weak animals from herds; editors cull submissions.
The word carries a clinical tone—culling deer populations sounds more palatable than killing them.
As a noun, a cull is an animal or item removed through this process, or the act itself: the annual seal cull.
Select from alternatives
- pickPointed breaking tool
- selectCarefully pick from options
- handpickSelect individually with care
- single outSelect for special attention
separate · extract · isolate · weed out · sort · sift · screen · filter
Small in diameter
- eliminateRemove completely
- reduceMake smaller in degree
- downsizeReduce scale or staff
- pareRemove outer layer
trim · cut · prune · decrease · diminish · deplete · curtail · shrink
choose
Select from alternatives
single out · separate · extract · isolate · weed out · sort · sift · screen · filter · identify
thin
Small in diameter
pare · trim · cut · prune · decrease · diminish · deplete · curtail · shrink · lessen
kill
Cause death
exterminate · dispatch · destroy · eradicate · thin · remove · massacre · purge · decimate · liquidate
gather
Bring or come together
harvest · forage · glean · procure · take · obtain · crop · yield · vintage · horticulture
- choiceschoice, choose, decide, decision, select
- eliminationremoval, exclusion, eradication, obliteration, expulsion
- selection wordschoose, select, handpick, cherry-pick, single out
- sorting actionssift, filter, weed out, separate, divide
- lumberjackinglumberjack, logger, chainsaw, axe, felling
- deer huntingwhitetail, buck, hind, doe, red deer
cullscatter
Distribute in random directions
disperse · distribute · spread · disseminate · divide