cull

/kʌl/

verb

  1. to choose and remove the weakest, worst, or unwanted members from a group

    B2

    transitive

    • "The farmer culled the sick animals from the herd."B1
    • "Researchers culled the data to keep only the most relevant examples."B2
    • "The committee culled applicants before the final interviews."C1

  2. to kill animals in order to reduce their number, especially for population control

    C1

    transitiveformal

    • "Officials decided to cull deer in the area to protect crops."B2
    • "The government ordered the cull of thousands of birds after the outbreak."C1
    • "Wildlife managers may cull invasive species to protect native habitats."C1

  3. To selectively remove or kill (animals) from a group, typically to reduce the population or improve the health of the group.

    B2

    transitiveformal

    • "The park rangers cull the deer herd every fall to prevent overgrazing."B2
    • "Farmers often cull weak or sick livestock to maintain a healthy flock."B1
    • "Conservationists debated whether to cull the invasive species to protect native wildlife."C1

  4. To select or extract (something) from a larger group or source, often with care or discrimination.

    B2

    transitiveformal

    • "The editor culled the best articles from the submissions."B2
    • "She culled relevant data from the report for her presentation."B1
    • "The anthology culls poems from various literary movements."C1

noun

  1. an act of selecting and removing the weakest, worst, or unwanted members of a group

    C1

    countable

    • "The cull of old records made the archive easier to manage."B2
    • "After the cull, only the best entries remained."C1
    • "The company carried out a cull of underperforming products."C1

  2. the killing of animals to reduce their numbers

    C1

    countableformal

    • "Protesters opposed the deer cull."B1
    • "The cull sparked debate among conservation groups."B2
    • "Authorities announced a cull after the disease spread."C1

  3. The act or process of culling; something that has been culled, especially an animal removed from a group.

    B2

    countableformal

    • "The annual cull of the wild boar population is controversial."B2
    • "The culls were sold to local hunters."B1
    • "Scientists study the genetic effects of a cull on the remaining herd."C1

Common mistakes

  • cull out→cull

    Use cull by itself; cull out is usually unnecessary.

Collocations

cull the herdcull the dataanimal culldeer cullselect and cullcull datacull from

Word family

culledcullingculler