cull a flock

/kʌl ə flɒk/

verb phrase

  1. To reduce the number of animals in a flock by selecting and killing some, usually for reasons of health, age, productivity, or disease control.

    B2

    transitive; flock refers to sheep, birds, or other animals kept togetherformal

    • "The farmer had to cull a flock of sick chickens."B1
    • "She culled the weakest sheep to ensure the flock's overall health."C1
    • "The authorities culled the flock to prevent the disease from spreading to nearby farms."C1

Collocations

cull a flock of sheepcull a flock of chickenscull diseased animalscull the weakestcull the sick

Word family

cullculling