winnowing 扬场
风选
winnowing[ noun ]
the act of separating grain from chaff
<noun.act>
the winnowing was done by women
Winnow \Win"now\ (w[i^]n"n[-o]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Winnowed}
(w[i^]n"n[-o]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {Winnowing}.] [OE. windewen,
winewen, AS. windwian; akin to Goth. winpjan (in comp.),
winpi-skauro a fan, L. ventilare to fan, to winnow; cf. L.
wannus a fan for winnowing, G. wanne, OHG. wanna. [root]131.
See {Wind} moving air, and cf. {Fan}., n., {Ventilate}.]
1. To separate, and drive off, the chaff from by means of
wind; to fan; as, to winnow grain.
Ho winnoweth barley to-night in the threshing floor.
--Ruth. iii.
2.
2. To sift, as for the purpose of separating falsehood from
truth; to separate, as bad from good.
Winnow well this thought, and you shall find
This light as chaff that flies before the wind.
--Dryden.
3. To beat with wings, or as with wings.[Poetic]
Now on the polar winds; then with quick fan
Winnows the buxom air. --Milton.
Winnowing \Win"now*ing\, n.
The act of one who, or that which, winnows.
- The flow of paper into a president's office, even after screening and winnowing by those outside his door, would drive Evelyn Wood mad.
- To survive the winnowing process, a church must have a yearly income of $100,000 with at least half collected in offerings.
- Thus, Iowa and New Hampshire, the two winnowing states, didn't winnow very much.
- Other biographers might assume the burden of winnowing them, placing them in context, establishing standards of relevance and verification, but then other biographers aren't being paid 4 million big ones.