Winnowing is the process of separating grain from the chaff or separating the valuable part from the worthless. In the literary world, winnowing could represent filtering out the bad ideas from the good ones. If you need alternatives to the term, 'winnows', then consider one of the following synonyms: filter, sort, screen, sieve, cull, separate, sift, or refine. While these words may have slightly different nuances and can be used for different contexts, they all encompass the overall idea of separating what is valuable from what is not. Choosing the right term will ultimately depend on the context and the intended meaning.