Adjacent Words

Filter definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FIL'TER, n.
A strainer; a piece of woolen cloth, paper or other substance, through which liquors are passed for defecation. A filter may be made in the form of a hollow inverted cone, or by a twist of thread or yarn, being wetted and one end put in the liquor and the other suffered to hand out below the surface of the liquor. Porous stone is often used as a filter.
FIL'TER, v.t. To purify or defecate liquor, by passing it through a filter, or causing it to pass through a porous substance that retains any feculent matter.
FIL'TER, v.i. To percolate; to pass through a filter.
FIL'TER, n. [See Philter.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: device that removes something from whatever passes through it
2: an electrical device that alters the frequency spectrum of signals passing through it v
1: remove by passing through a filter; "filter out the impurities" [syn: filter, filtrate, strain, separate out, filter out]
2: pass through; "Water permeates sand easily" [syn: percolate, sink in, permeate, filter]
3: run or flow slowly, as in drops or in an unsteady stream; "water trickled onto the lawn from the broken hose"; "reports began to dribble in" [syn: trickle, dribble, filter]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English filtre, from Medieval Latin filtrum piece of felt used as a filter, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German filz felt — more at felt Date: 1563 1. a. a porous article or mass (as of paper or sand) through which a gas or liquid is passed to separate out matter in suspension b. an apparatus containing a filter medium 2. a. a device or material for suppressing or minimizing waves or oscillations of certain frequencies (as of electricity, light, or sound) b. a transparent material (as colored glass) that absorbs light of certain wavelengths or colors selectively and is used for modifying light that reaches a sensitized photographic material — called also color filter 3. something that has the effect of a filter (as by holding back elements or modifying the appearance of something) <his work is too often viewed through the filter of race — Brent Staples> 4. software for sorting or blocking access to certain online material II. verb (filtered; filtering) Date: 1576 transitive verb 1. to subject to the action of a filter 2. to remove by means of a filter intransitive verb 1. to pass or move through or as if through a filter 2. to come or go in small units over a period of time <people began filtering in>

U.S. Military Dictionary

(*) In electronics, a device which transmits only part of the incident energy and may thereby change the spectral distribution of energy: a. High pass filters transmit energy above a certain frequency; b. Low pass filters transmit energy below a certain frequency; c. Band pass filters transmit energy of a certain bandwidth; d. Band stop filters transmit energy outside a specific frequency band.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a porous device for removing impurities or solid particles from a liquid or gas passed through it. 2 = filter tip. 3 a screen or attachment for absorbing or modifying light, X-rays, etc. 4 a device for suppressing electrical or sound waves of frequencies not required. 5 Brit. a an arrangement for filtering traffic. b a traffic-light signalling this. --v.intr. & tr. 1 pass or cause to pass through a filter. 2 (foll. by through, into, etc.) make way gradually. 3 (foll. by out) leak or cause to leak. 4 Brit. allow (traffic) or (of traffic) be allowed to pass to the left or right at a junction while traffic going straight ahead is halted (esp. at traffic lights). Phrases and idioms: filter-bed a tank or pond containing a layer of sand etc. for filtering large quantities of liquid. filter-paper porous paper for filtering. filter tip 1 a filter attached to a cigarette for removing impurities from the inhaled smoke. 2 a cigarette with this. filter-tipped having a filter tip. Etymology: F filtre f. med.L filtrum felt used as a filter, f. WG

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Filter Fil"ter, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filtered; p. pr. & vb. n. Filtering] [Cf. F. filter. See Filter, n., and cf. Filtrate.] To purify or defecate, as water or other liquid, by causing it to pass through a filter. Filtering paper, or Filter paper, a porous unsized paper, for filtering.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Filter Fil"ter, n. [F. filtre, the same word as feutre felt, LL. filtrum, feltrum, felt, fulled wool, this being used for straining liquors. See Feuter.] Any porous substance, as cloth, paper, sand, or charcoal, through which water or other liquid may passed to cleanse it from the solid or impure matter held in suspension; a chamber or device containing such substance; a strainer; also, a similar device for purifying air. Filter bed, a pond, the bottom of which is a filter composed of sand gravel. Filter gallery, an underground gallery or tunnel, alongside of a stream, to collect the water that filters through the intervening sand and gravel; -- called also infiltration gallery.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Filter Fil"ter, v. i. To pass through a filter; to percolate.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Filter Fil"ter, n. Same as Philter.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(filters, filtering, filtered) 1. To filter a substance means to pass it through a device which is designed to remove certain particles contained in it. The best prevention for cholera is to boil or filter water, and eat only well-cooked food. VERB: V n 2. A filter is a device through which a substance is passed when it is being filtered. ...a paper coffee filter. N-COUNT 3. A filter is a device through which sound or light is passed and which blocks or reduces particular sound or light frequencies. You might use a yellow filter to improve the clarity of a hazy horizon. N-COUNT 4. If light or sound filters into a place, it comes in weakly or slowly, either through a partly covered opening, or from a long distance away. Light filtered into my kitchen through the soft, green shade of the cherry tree. VERB: V into/through n 5. When news or information filters through to people, it gradually reaches them. It took months before the findings began to filter through to the politicians... News of the attack quickly filtered through the college. ...as indications filter in from polling stations. ...the horror stories which were beginning to filter out of Germany. VERB: V through to n, V through n, V in, V out of n 6. A traffic filter is a traffic signal or lane which controls the movement of traffic wanting to turn left or right. (BRIT) N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Strain, pass through a strainer or filter. II. v. n. Percolate, transude, exude, strain, ooze. III. n. Strainer.

Moby Thesaurus

bleed, bolt, butterfly, cheesecloth, clarifier, clarify, clean, clear, cloth, colander, condense, cradle, cribble, decrassify, depurate, diffusing screen, discharge, distill, drain, dribble, drip, dripple, drop, edulcorate, effuse, eliminate, elute, emit, essentialize, exclude, excrete, exfiltrate, extract, extravasate, exudate, exude, filtrate, frosted glass, frosted lens, gauze, gelatin filter, give off, ground glass, gurgle, leach, lens hood, light filter, lixiviate, lixiviator, membrane, ooze, pass through, percolate, percolator, purifier, purify, rectify, reek, refine, refiner, refinery, riddle, rocker, run through, screen, seep, separate, sieve, sift, sifter, smoked glass, spiritualize, spurtle, stained glass, strain, strainer, sublimate, sublime, transude, trickle, try, weed out, weep, winnow, winnowing basket, winnowing fan, winnowing machine