cull
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Etymology 1
From Old French cuillir (“collect, gather, select”), from Latin colligo (“gather together”).
[edit] Verb
cull (third-person singular simple present culls, present participle culling, simple past and past participle culled)
- To pick or take someone or something (from a larger group).
- To gather, collect.
- To select animals from a group and then kill them in order to reduce the numbers of the group in a controlled manner.
- (nonstandard, euphemistic) To kill (animals etc).
- To lay off in order to reduce the size of, get rid of.
[edit] Quotations
- 1977, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, Penguin Classics, p. 202:
- Chaucer's prose Tale of Melibee [...] is a dialectal homily of moral debate, exhibiting a learned store of ethical precept culled from many ancient authorities.
- 1984, cover star: JOE DALLESANDRO culled from Andy Warhol's FLESH — anonymous; sleeve notes from The Smiths' eponymous album
[edit] Translations
To pick or take someone or something
To select animals from a group and then kill them
[edit] Noun
cull (plural culls)
- A selection.
- An organised killing of selected animals.
- A piece unfit for inclusion within a larger group; an inferior specimen.
[edit] Etymology 2
Perhaps an abbreviation of cully.
[edit] Noun
cull (plural culls)
- (slang, dialectal) A fool, gullible person; a dupe.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 307:
- Follow but my counsel, and I will show you a way to empty the pocket of a queer cull without any danger of the nubbing cheat.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 307:
[edit] Synonyms
- See also Wikisaurus:dupe
[edit] Catalan
[edit] Verb
cull
