culling

[ kuhl-ing ]

noun

1. the act or process of selecting and removing desirable or undesirable individuals from a group:

   Reducing farm exposure to the bacteria will require more rigorous testing and culling of infected animals.

2. the process of gathering or collecting:

   To realize progress through the transfer of ideas, an informed culling of content and the extension of a shared knowledge base are essential.

3. the group of things resulting from either of these processes:

   The collection War in Context provides a crucial culling of stories that I would surely have missed had I not read it.

Word History and Origins

Origin of culling¹

cull ( def ) + -ing ¹( def )

Example Sentences

University officials are culling the data gathered and holding sessions with participants to begin crafting the new direction.

From Los Angeles Times

“There’s hope that on the other side of the virus, they will come back into production that’s sustainable for the farmer. So it’s definitely a last resort if they are culling them.”

From Los Angeles Times

By far, the most common suggested solution was culling birds.

From Salon

Sir Brian, 77, helped conduct the research presented in a new BBC documentary, and says his campaigning against badger culling to tackle bTB "has become as important to me as music".

From BBC

Sir Brian, who has long campaigned on animal welfare issues and against the culling of badgers to protect farms from bovine TB, published his letter of resignation on Instagram.

From BBC

Related Words

• choice
• collection
• draft
• election
• excerpt
• option
• pick