Cull or glean?

Ever wonder what the difference is between "cull" and "glean." (Ever wonder what either of those mean?) I was recently trying to figure out whether a particular piece I was working on called for "cull" or "glean." I knew (or at least thought I knew) that both had to do with pulling pieces (or things) from the whole (or a collection).

Turns out that "cull" means to pull out the inferior speicmens (cattle for instance) from the group (herd in this case). "Glean" has a more positive connotation--it means to gather--usually the remains (as in "the crows glean the field after the combine passes over it").

Now you know.