cull
Americanverb (used with object)
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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.
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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
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Quotations are culled from a variety of literature, diaries and letters, local histories, journals, and newspapers.
noun
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the act of culling.
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something culled, especially something picked out and put aside as inferior.
verb
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to choose or gather the best or required examples
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to take out (an animal, esp an inferior one) from a herd
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to reduce the size of (a herd or flock) by killing a proportion of its members
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to gather (flowers, fruit, etc)
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to cease to employ; get rid of
noun
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the act or product of culling
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an inferior animal taken from a herd or group
Other Word Forms
- culler noun
- outcull verb (used with object)
- overcull verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of cull
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English coilen, cuilen, cullen, from Anglo-French, Old French coillir, cuillir, from Latin colligere “to gather”; collect 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dorsey acknowledged that such a big cull could risk Block’s ability to serve its customers in the short term.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
Hunting groups like Safari Club International and the California Rifle and Pistol Assn., as well as animal rights groups In Defense of Animals and the Humane Society, also oppose the cull.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2026
While it might be possible to reintroduce lynx, he says, "lynx predation could only ever be a small part of the annual cull required to keep numbers in check".
From BBC • Dec. 25, 2025
Hokkaido plans to cull 1,200 bears annually over the next decade.
From Barron's • Dec. 24, 2025
There Call, his hands in heavy rubber gloves, would cull, using a culling hammer.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
