winnow

v. separate the grain from the chaff; separate the good from the bad; blow through; scatter; blow over; sift through, select the desirable parts

n. act of winnowing; device for winnowing grain

The winnow algorithm is a technique from machine learning. It is closely related to the Perceptron, but uses a different update rule. Winnow is effective at removing unhelpful dimensions (hence it's name). It is not a sophisticated algorithm but it scales well to high-dimensional spaces. During training, winnow is shown a sequence of positive and negative examples. From these it learns a decision hyperplane.
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Noun
1. the act of separating grain from chaff; "the winnowing was done by women"
(synonym) winnowing, sifting
(hypernym) separation
(derivation) fan
Verb
1. separate from chaff; "She stood there winnowing grain all day in the field"
(synonym) fan
(hypernym) sift, sieve, strain
(derivation) winnowing, sifting
2. blow on; "The wind was winnowing her hair"
(hypernym) fan
3. treat by exposure to a current of air so that waste matter is eliminated; "winnow grain"
(hypernym) process, treat
4. remove by a current of air; "winnow chaff"
(hypernym) remove, take, take away, withdraw

(v. i.)
To separate chaff from grain.
  

Corn was winnowed, (1.) By being thrown up by a shovel against the wind. As a rule this was done in the evening or during the night, when the west wind from the sea was blowing, which was a moderate breeze and fitted for the purpose. The north wind was too strong, and the east wind came in gusts. (2.) By the use of a fan or van, by which the chaff was blown away (Ruth 3:2; Isa. 30:24; Jer. 4:11, 12; Matt. 3:12).