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cull

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cull the herd

1. Literally, to separate or remove (and usually kill) inferior animals out of a herd so as to reduce numbers or remove undesirable traits from the group as a whole. We had to quickly cull the herd when it came to light that some cows might be carrying an infectious disease.

2. By extension, to separate or remove people from a larger group. With so many people applying for a limited number of jobs, employers have had to cull the herd by introducing much stricter criteria and a more elaborate application for hiring. Universities have long used standardized test results as a means of culling the herd of applicants they receive each year.

See also: cull, herd

cull someone or something out of something

 and cull someone or something out

to eliminate someone or something from a group. We will cull the older pigeons out from the flock. They culled out the slower runners from the team.

See also: cull, of, out

cull

n. a socially unacceptable person. This place is so filled with culls! Let’s split.