WINNOW

I. verb see: wind Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. a. to remove (as chaff) by a current of air, to get rid of (something undesirable or unwanted) ; remove , b. separate , sift , select , 2. to treat (as grain) by exposure to a current of air so that waste matter is eliminated, to free of unwanted or inferior elements ; pare , narrow , reduce , to blow on ; fan , intransitive verb to separate chaff from grain by fanning, to separate desirable and undesirable elements, ~er noun II. noun Date: 1580 a device for ~ing, 2. the action of ~ing, a motion resembling that of ~ing