separate the wheat from the chaff
To select only that which is of value.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“We must separate the wheat from the chaff to find the best ideas.”
“The manager reviewed hundreds of job applications to separate the wheat from the chaff before scheduling any interviews.”
“In an era of endless digital information, the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff has become an essential skill for any serious researcher.”
The image comes from John the Baptist in Matthew 3:12 and Luke 3:17, who describes one coming with a winnowing fork in his hand to clear the threshing floor, gathering the wheat into the barn and burning the chaff. Winnowing was ordinary farm work: threshed grain was tossed into the air so the breeze carried off the light, worthless husks while the heavy edible kernels fell back down. John turns that everyday sorting into a picture of judgement, the valuable kept and the useless discarded.
The literal process is the source of the metaphor. Wheat is what you want; chaff is the papery debris around it. Separating them is the act of keeping the good and letting the rest blow away.
To separate the wheat from the chaff now means to distinguish what is valuable from what is not, to sift the worthwhile out of a mass of the mediocre or irrelevant.
The short stories Jesus told to make a point.
- 01
good Samaritan (idiom)
A person who helps someone in distress out of their own good nature.
- 02
the prodigal son (idiom)
Someone who returns, chastened and repentant, after a period of reckless or wasteful living.
- 03
the eleventh hour (idiom)
The very last possible moment before a deadline or a decisive event.
- 04
a house built on sand (idiom)
A plan or venture with no solid foundation, liable to collapse under pressure.
- 05
the widow's mite (idiom)
A small gift that represents a great sacrifice for the person who gives it.
- 06
a good and faithful servant (idiom)
Someone praised for loyal, diligent, and dependable service.
Last updated August 10, 2026