winnow

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To separate the chaff from (grain) by means of a current of air.
2. v. To rid of undesirable parts.
3. v. To blow (chaff) off or away.
4. v. To blow away; scatter.
5. v. To blow on; fan: a breeze winnowing the tall grass.
6. v. To examine closely in order to separate the good from the bad; sift.
7. v. To separate or get rid of (an undesirable part); eliminate: winnowing out the errors in logic.
8. v. To sort or select (a desirable part); extract.
9. v. To separate grain from chaff.
10. v. To separate the good from the bad.
11. n. A device for winnowing grain.
12. n. An act of winnowing.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To fan; set in motion by means of wind; specifically, to expose (grain) to a current of air in order to separate and drive off chaff, refuse particles, etc.
2. To blow upon; toss about by blowing.
3. To separate, expel, or disperse by or as by fanning or blowing; sift or weed out; separate or distinguish, as one thing from another.
4. To set in motion or vibration; beat as with a fan or wings.
5. To wave to and fro; flutter; flap.
6. To pursue or accomplish with a waving or flapping motion, as of wings.
7. Figuratively, to subject to a process analogous to the winnowing of grain; separate into parts according to kind; sift; analyze or scrutinize carefully; examine; test.
8. To free grain or the like from chaff or refuse matter by means of wind.
9. To move about with a flapping motion, as of wings; flutter.
10. n. That which winnows or which is used in winnowing; a contrivance for fanning or winnowing grain.

Wiktionary

1. v. transitive, agriculture To subject (granular material, especially food grain) to a current of air separating heavier and lighter components, as grain from chaff.
2. v. transitive, figuratively To separate, sift, analyze, or test in this manner.
3. v. transitive, literary To blow upon or toss about by blowing; to set in motion as with a fan or wings.
4. v. intransitive, literary, dated To move about with a flapping motion, as of wings; to flutter.
5. n. That which winnows or which is used in winnowing; a contrivance for fanning or winnowing grain.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To separate, and drive off, the chaff from by means of wind; to fan.
2. v. To sift, as for the purpose of separating falsehood from truth; to separate, as bad from good.
3. v. Poetic To beat with wings, or as with wings.
4. v. To separate chaff from grain.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. blow away or off with a current of air
2. v. separate the chaff from by using air currents
3. v. blow on
4. v. select desirable parts from a group or list
5. n. the act of separating grain from chaff