From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcullcull1 /kʌl/ verb [transitive] 1 KILLto kill animals so that there are not too many of them, or so that a disease does not spread2 formalFIND OUT to find or choose information from many different places SYN collatecull something from something The data had been culled from a variety of sources.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
cull• I don't think it was an illusion, a clever deceit produced by scientists culling and stringent access modelling.• The Minke whales, which are numerous, should be culled because they are impeding the recovery of the endangered Blue Whale.• Or culling every other tree might help to change the feeling of being hemmed in.• All this is culled from letters from people who had the forethought to record the event.• The anthology consists of 15 stories culled from literary reviews.• Goats that are larger than average are culled from the herd.• Names of potential jurors are culled from voter registration lists.• On any day, he may get 100 suggestions for a strip, from which he culls one or two.• The Huskies continued to cull the best athletes in the West and brought them to Seattle.• National newspapers cull their stories from all over the country - often, indeed, from all over the world.• Over two million sheep have been culled to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease.cullcull2 noun [countable] KILLthe act of killing animals so that there are not too many of them, or so that a disease does not spreadExamples from the Corpus
cull• A cull of 1,000 middle managers should lop a further £225m off costs.• If it hadn't been so quiet, it could have been Paddington station during a commuter cull.• A report had been received by his inspector that a discreet cull of the wild ducks on Hury Reservoir was under way.• The latest cull brings the number of sheep and lambs killed in the Brecon Beacons national park since last week to 6,500.• The first will almost certainly necessitate a major cull of the 140 committees.• There has been no obvious cull of the past in the name of modernity.• Meanwhile, the Montana state government seems unlikely to take on the call for translocation and a reduced cull.• a seal cull• The cull is thought to have cost many farmers their livelihoods.Origin cull1 (1100-1200) Old French cuillir, from Latin colligere; → COLLECT1 