cull

C2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /kʊl/ UK /kʌl/ See IPA manual

Freq #42553

Meanings

1

verb
To select and gather the best items from a larger group.

The editor culled the finest poems from hundreds of submissions.
2

verb
To kill selected animals in order to reduce a population.

Officials decided to cull part of the deer herd to protect the forest.
3

noun
An organized killing of selected animals.

The badger cull provoked angry protests from animal rights groups.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Multiword verbs with cull

cull out Phrasal verb C2

to select useful or desirable items from a larger collection

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to select and gather the... cherry-pick

Word family

Forms culledcullingculls

Derived forms ben-cullcullablecullerculpeppermollying-cullovercullunculled

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

cull out
to select useful or desirable items from a larger collection

Verb + adverb

Etymology

From Middle English cullen, cuilen, coilen, from Old French cuillir (“collect, gather, select”), from Latin colligō (“gather together”). Doublet of coil.

*leǵ- Proto-Indo-European cullen Middle English cuillir Old French colligō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# cull

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /kʊl/
**IPA (UK):** /kʌl/
**Frequency rank:** 42553

## Meanings
1. To select and gather the best items from a larger group.
2. To kill selected animals in order to reduce a population.
3. An organized killing of selected animals.

## Examples
- The editor culled the finest poems from hundreds of submissions.
- Officials decided to cull part of the deer herd to protect the forest.
- The badger cull provoked angry protests from animal rights groups.

## Derived Forms
- ben-cull
- cullable
- culler
- culpepper
- mollying-cull
- overcull
- unculled

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *leǵ-
- Root: cullen
- Root: cuillir
- Root: colligō

## Etymology
From Middle English cullen, cuilen, coilen, from Old French cuillir (“collect, gather, select”), from Latin colligō (“gather together”). Doublet of coil.

## AI Etymology
Cull is from Middle English cullen, cuilen, coilen, from Old French cuillir (“collect, gather, select”), from Latin colligō (“gather together”). Doublet of coil. Important recorded forms include *leǵ- (Proto-Indo-European), cullen (Middle English), cuillir (Old French), and colligō (Latin). Current senses include to select and gather the best items from a larger group, to kill selected animals in order to reduce a population, and an organized killing of selected animals. The wider family includes derived forms such as ben-cull, cullable, culler, culpepper, and mollying-cull.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

markdown