Word.ws English Dictionary

winnowing fans

winnowing fans is the plural of winnowing fan.

Meaning of winnowing fan

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.

Questions about winnowing fans

What is winnowing fans the plural of?
Winnowing fans is the plural of winnowing fan.

Words near winnowing fans in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: winnowing fans (page history and authors); winnowing fan (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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