Cull

//cɑl// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
Noun
  1. 1
    A selection.
  2. 2
    A fool, gullible person; a dupe. dialectal, slang

    "Follow but my counsel, and I will show you a way to empty the pocket of a queer cull without any danger of the nubbing cheat."

  3. 3
    the person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality wordnet
  4. 4
    An organized killing of selected animals.

    "It seemed that the sun shone and all was right in our Blakean islands until the government began to set in motion its promised cull of badgers in an effort to control bovine TB. Salvation for brock came in the form of an online petition started by Queen guitarist Brian May, the rising costs of the programme and the weather."

  5. 5
    A man or boy. UK, obsolete, slang

    "But you don't want no dealings with that cull. A darker villain I never did see."

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    An individual animal selected to be killed, or item of produce to be discarded.
  2. 7
    A lobster having only one claw.
  3. 8
    A piece unfit for inclusion within a larger group; an inferior specimen.
Verb
  1. 1
    To pick or take someone or something (from a larger group).

    "1984, cover star: JOE DALLESANDRO culled from Andy Warhol's FLESH — anonymous; sleeve notes from The Smiths' eponymous album"

  2. 2
    look for and gather wordnet
  3. 3
    To gather, collect.

    "[T]he yellowbanded bees, / Through half-open lattices / Coming in the scented breeze, / Fed thee, a child, lying alone, / With whitest honey in fairy gardens culled— […]"

  4. 4
    remove something that has been rejected wordnet
  5. 5
    To select animals from a group and then kill them in order to reduce the numbers of the group in a controlled manner.
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    To kill (animals, etc). broadly
  2. 7
    To lay off in order to reduce the size of, get rid of.
  3. 8
    To selectively not render or process certain objects, such as polygons.

    "back-face culling"

Etymology

Etymology 1

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

Etymology 2

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

Etymology 3

Perhaps an abbreviation of cully.

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