winnowing
Sorting wheat thoroughly
Winnowing is the process of separating grain from chaff by tossing it in the air and letting the wind blow away the lighter husks.
The term extends to any process of sifting through options to separate what's valuable from what isn't: After winnowing the applicants, we had three strong candidates.
A winnowing process or winnowing down suggests gradual elimination toward a final choice.
Extracting grain from stalks
Separating by particle size
- sortingArranging into sequence
- cullingSelective population reduction
- separatingDividing into parts
- dividingSeparating into parts
extracting · removing · distinguishing · partitioning · isolating · filtering · screening · selecting
Reduction in width
- shortlistingNarrowing to finalists
- eliminatingRemoving from consideration
- weedingExtracting undesired vegetation
- paringCutting away rind
trimming · whittling · cutting · pruning · thinning · streamlining · condensing · distilling
Reasoned decision-making capacity
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- evaluationDetermining worth or quality
- assessmentFormal evaluation of worth
- analysisMethodical study of parts
scrutiny · appraisal · selection · vetting · review · examination · consideration · deliberation
threshing
Extracting grain from stalks
wheat · barley · fanning · husk · cereal · oats · rye · corn · crop · farming
sifting
Separating by particle size
- sortingArranging into sequence
- cullingSelective population reduction
- separatingDividing into parts
dividing · extracting · removing · distinguishing · partitioning · isolating · filtering · screening · selecting · choosing
narrowing
Reduction in width
- shortlistingNarrowing to finalists
- eliminatingRemoving from consideration
- weedingExtracting undesired vegetation
paring · trimming · whittling · cutting · pruning · thinning · streamlining · condensing · distilling · refining
judgment
Reasoned decision-making capacity
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- evaluationDetermining worth or quality
- assessmentFormal evaluation of worth
analysis · scrutiny · appraisal · selection · vetting · review · examination · consideration · deliberation · sorting
- grain farmingwheat, wheat field, wheat fields, wheat farming, corn
- harvestreaping, fall harvest, wheat sheaf, reaper, reap
- Rural Village Lifefarming, harvest, plowing, seeds, crops
- group workbarn raising, work party, team building, workday, collective farming
- harvestingreaping, picking, gathering, collecting, plucking
- Old Farmingplowing, harvesting, sowing, threshing, fallowing
winnowinggathering
Collection of people meeting
collecting · accumulating · amassing · aggregating · compiling
winnowingexpanding
Growing in scope
increasing · growing · enlarging · augmenting · multiplying