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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Winnow \Win"now\, verb (used without an object) To separate chaff from grain.
Winnow not with every wind. --Ecclus. v. 9.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Winnow \Win"now\ (w[i^]n"n[-o]), verb (used with an object) [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}., noun, {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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
winnow
noun: the act of separating grain from chaff; "the winnowing was done by women" [syn: {winnowing}, {sifting}]
verb
1: separate from chaff; "She stood there winnowing grain all day in the field" [syn: {fan}]
2: blow on; "The wind was winnowing her hair"
3: treat by exposure to a current of air so that waste matter is eliminated; "winnow grain"
4: remove by a current of air; "winnow chaff"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
123 Moby Thesaurus words for "winnow": aerate, air, air out, air-condition, air-cool, airify, analyze, appraise, assess, bolt, catalog, categorize, choose out, clarifier, clarify, class, classify, clear, colander, comb, contradistinguish, cordon, cordon off, cradle, cribble, cross-ventilate, cull, cull out, decide between, decrassify, demarcate, demark, depurate, differentiate, discriminate, distill, distinguish, divide, draw the line, edulcorate, elute, essentialize, evaluate, excerpt, extract, factor, fan, filter, filtrate, freshen, gauge, ghettoize, gin, glean, group, handpick, identify, insulate, isolate, keep apart, keep aside, lay aside, leach, lixiviate, lixiviator, make a selection, mark the interface, oxygenate, oxygenize, percolate, percolator, pick, pick out, purifier, purify, put aside, quarantine, rectify, refine, refiner, refinery, refresh, riddle, rocker, ruffle, screen, screen out, seclude, segregate, select, separate, set a limit, set apart, set aside, set off, sever, severalize, sieve, sieve out, sift, sift out, sifter, single out, sort, sort out, spiritualize, split hairs, strain, strainer, subdivide, sublimate, sublime, subtilize, thrash, thrash out, thresh, try, ventilate, weigh, wind, winnowing basket, winnowing fan, winnowing machine
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Winnow Corn was winnowed, (1.) By being thrown up by a shovel against the wind. As a rule this was done in the evening or during the night, when the west wind from the sea was blowing, which was a moderate breeze and fitted for the purpose. The north wind was too strong, and the east wind came in gusts. (2.) By the use of a fan or van, by which the chaff was blown away (Ruth 3:2; Isa. 30:24; Jer. 4:11, 12; Matt. 3:12).
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