Word.ws English Dictionary

winnowing fan

winnowing fan noun: a specially shaped winnowing basket, in which grain is shaken in the process of winnowing, with the shape of the basket allowing the chaff to spill out more readily.

winnowing fan: a specially shaped winnowing basket, in which grain is shaken in the process of winnowing, with the...
Image: Jean-François Millet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

winnowing fan (plural winnowing fans)

  1. A specially shaped winnowing basket, in which grain is shaken in the process of winnowing, with the shape of the basket allowing the chaff to spill out more readily.
    • The wind is the natural winnower, but man can help the wind by exposing the mixed chaff and grain. This he throws up on the winnowing fan against the wind, the wind blows away the chaff and the heavier grain falls to the ground. The best instrument with which to do this is naturally an oar-like...1908, Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, page 529
  2. Any fan device, including those electrically powered, used in winnowing.

winnowing fan meaning in Tamil and Kannada

winnowing fan in Tamil

fan used to separate chaff from grain
முறம் muṟam

winnowing fan in Kannada

ಕೆರಸಿ, ಕೆರಸೆ, ಗರೆಸೆ, ಗೆರಸಿ, ಗೆರಸೆ, ಗೆರಿಸೆ

Forms of winnowing fan

pluralwinnowing fans

Questions about winnowing fan

What does winnowing fan mean?
Winnowing fan means a specially shaped winnowing basket, in which grain is shaken in the process of winnowing, with the shape of the basket allowing the chaff to spill out more readily.
What is winnowing fan in Tamil?
Winnowing fan in Tamil is முறம் (muṟam). See Winnowing fan meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is winnowing fan?
Winnowing fan is a noun.
What is the plural of winnowing fan?
The plural of winnowing fan is winnowing fans.

Words near winnowing fan in the dictionary

  1. winnoweth
  2. winnowing
  3. winnowing basket
  4. winnowing baskets
  5. winnowing down
  6. winnowing fan
  7. winnowing fans
  8. winnowing fork
  9. winnowing forks
  10. winnowing grain from chaff
  11. winnowing machine

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: winnowing fan (page history and authors); winnowing fan (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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