thin the herd
Cut the weak
To thin the herd is to reduce a group by removing weaker or less desirable members.
The phrase comes from wildlife management, where culling prevents overpopulation.
In business or organizational contexts, it often means layoffs or cutting underperformers: The company thinned the herd after the merger.
The phrase can sound callous when applied to people.
- cullSelective removal
- streamlineRemove unnecessary elements
- pruneDesiccated stone fruit
- reduceMake smaller in degree
- trimRemove unwanted edges
weed out · separate the wheat from the chaff · selection · prioritize · simplify · consolidate · downsize · dead weight · winnow · eliminate · manage · purge · clean house · regulate · discard · restructure · control · refine
thin the herdbulk up
Gain muscle mass
staff up · swell the ranks · scale up · proliferate · recruit
thin, thinner, thinnest, thinly, thinness, thinning, thinned, herd, herds