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View synonyms for cull

cull

[ kuhl ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to select and remove from a group, especially to discard or destroy as inferior:

    When I cull the smaller curved saplings, I'm careful to protect and nurture the straighter and larger trees.

  2. to discard unwanted parts or remove choice parts from (a group):

    Ranchers must decide whether to buy expensive feed or cull their herds to weather the drought.

    Synonyms: single out, cherry-pick

  3. to collect; gather; pluck:

    Quotations are culled from a variety of literature, diaries and letters, local histories, journals, and newspapers.

    Synonyms: amass, garner



noun

  1. the act of culling.
  2. something culled, especially something picked out and put aside as inferior.

cull

/ kʌl /

verb

  1. to choose or gather the best or required examples
  2. to take out (an animal, esp an inferior one) from a herd
  3. to reduce the size of (a herd or flock) by killing a proportion of its members
  4. to gather (flowers, fruit, etc)
  5. to cease to employ; get rid of


noun

  1. the act or product of culling
  2. an inferior animal taken from a herd or group

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Other Words From

  • cull·er noun
  • out·cull verb (used with object)
  • o·ver·cull verb (used with object)

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Word History and Origins

Origin of cull1

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English coilen, cuilen, cullen, from Anglo-French, Old French coillir, cuillir, from Latin colligere “to gather”; collect 1

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Word History and Origins

Origin of cull1

C15: from Old French coillir to pick, from Latin colligere; see collect 1

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Example Sentences

The social media giant’s global cull of Australian news hit not only media companies, but also a wide range of governmental organizations, including some state and local health departments and the Bureau of Meteorology.

From Time

In March 2020 it was one of the first countries in Europe to institute a lockdown to try to contain the virus, and in November it was quick to order a cull of farmed minks when a new variant spotted in the animals was linked to 12 cases in humans.

A cull hunt is often ruled out of the question due to human population densities, so game managers have employed many different tactics with varying degrees of success.

Denmark will dig up millions of dead mink after a hasty cull and burial intended to stamp out a coronavirus mutation ended with the rotting carcasses triggering a new contamination risk.

From Fortune

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, the head of the biggest opposition party, the Liberals, told broadcaster TV2 he won’t back the government’s proposal for a mass cull here and now.

From Fortune

Could I, along with a few other Tumblr users, help cull through the questions and select some?

In 2012 she again raised eyebrows when she suggested that badgers shot in any cull should be eaten.

In this case, a cull of the Taliban and ISAF tweets yields a unique view into the current state of Afghan affairs.

Steele visited Sparks in Harlem to cull from his collection of high-end labels and vintage pieces.

Prenatal testing leads to more abortions and prompts us to “cull the ranks of the disabled”?

They are goin' to skid the butt log again, and they swear that if you cull it again, they will kill you.

He would doubtless have pressed bologna now on Tod McNeil had that social cull stayed by.

There we cull the flowers of the field and the forest glade, weaving them into garlands, building them into nosegays.

The items we cull relate to a trade once very general in the United States, but happily now a thing of the past.

Let no man say that these were simply oranges, for these a man may cull in many a Greek garden to-day.

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