From: b.scott@csuohio.edu   
      
   On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:02:23 -0800, Bill Swears   
    wrote in   
      
   in rec.arts.sf.misc:   
      
   [...]   
      
   > OED lists:     Cull v1.   
      
   > 1. trans. To choose from a number or quantity; to select, pick. Now most   
   > frequently used of making a literary selection. cull out: to pick out,   
   > select (arch.).   
   >      2. To gather, pick, pluck (flowers, fruits, etc.).   
   >      3. transf. To subject to the process of selection; to select or   
   > gather the choice things or parts from.   
      
   > Webster lists:   
   >> 1: to select from a group : choose > poet's work>   
      
   >> 2: to reduce or control the size of (as a herd) by removal (as by   
   >> hunting) of especially weaker animals  ; also : to hunt or kill   
   >> (animals) as a means of population control ¡X cull¡Per noun   
      
   > so in either version of our language there is a primary usage that   
   > doesn't necessarily require killing fuzzy little animals.   
      
   The OED is irrelevant: it's a historical dictionary that   
   includes all of the definitions ever used.  Moreover, the   
   entry for  is now quite old (and is not one of the   
   ones so far brought up to date in the on-line version).   
   Finally, the OED doesn't order the entries by frequency of   
   usage, so you can't infer a primary sense from it.   
      
   By the way, the U.S. dictionary that you cited is not   
   'Webster', a name that is meaningless as an identifier of a   
   dictionary.  It's Merriam-Webster OnLine, which is based on   
   the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edn.   
      
   Brian   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)