Adjacent Words

Sift definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SIFT, v.t.
1. To separate by a sieve, as the fine part of a substance from the coarse; as, to sift meal; to sift powder; to sift sand or lime.
2. To separate; to part.
3. To examine minutely or critically; to scrutinize. Let the principles of the party be thoroughly sifted. We have sifted your objections.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: move as if through a sieve; "The soldiers sifted through the woods"
2: separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements; "sift the flour" [syn: sift, sieve, strain]
3: check and sort carefully; "sift the information" [syn: sieve, sift]
4: distinguish and separate out; "sift through the job candidates" [syn: sieve, sift]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English, from Old English siftan; akin to Old English sife sieve Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. a. to put through a sieve <sift flour> b. to separate or separate out by or as if by putting through a sieve 2. to go through especially to sort out what is useful or valuable <sifted the evidence> — often used with through <sift through a pile of old letters> 3. to scatter by or as if by sifting <sift sugar on a cake> intransitive verb 1. to use a sieve 2. to pass or fall as if through a sieve • sifter noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. sieve (material) into finer and coarser parts. 2 tr. (usu. foll. by from, out) separate (finer or coarser parts) from material. 3 tr. sprinkle (esp. sugar) from a perforated container. 4 tr. examine (evidence, facts, etc.) in order to assess authenticity etc. 5 intr. (of snow, light, etc.) fall as if from a sieve. Phrases and idioms: sift through examine by sifting. Derivatives: sifter n. (also in comb.). Etymology: OE siftan f. WG

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sift Sift, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sifted; p. pr. & vb. n. Sifting.] [AS. siftan, from sife sieve. [root]151a. See Sieve.] 1. To separate with a sieve, as the fine part of a substance from the coarse; as, to sift meal or flour; to sift powder; to sift sand or lime. 2. To separate or part as if with a sieve. When yellow sands are sifted from below, The glittering billows give a golden show. --Dryden. 3. To examine critically or minutely; to scrutinize. Sifting the very utmost sentence and syllable. --Hooker. Opportunity I here have had To try thee, sift thee. --Milton. Let him but narrowly sift his ideas. --I. Taylor. To sift out, to search out with care, as if by sifting.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(sifts, sifting, sifted) 1. If you sift a powder such as flour or sand, you put it through a sieve in order to remove large pieces or lumps. Sift the flour and baking powder into a medium-sized mixing bowl. = sieve VERB: V n 2. If you sift through something such as evidence, you examine it thoroughly. Police officers have continued to sift through the wreckage following yesterday's bomb attack... Brook has sifted the evidence and summarises it clearly. VERB: V through n, V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Bolt. 2. Separate, part. 3. Scrutinize, probe, fathom, sound, try, analyze, investigate, canvass, discuss, examine critically, look into, follow up, inquire into.

Moby Thesaurus

air, analyze, appraise, assess, assort, bolt, canvass, catalog, categorize, choose, choose out, clarify, class, classify, clear, collate, comb, comment upon, consider, contradistinguish, controvert, cordon, cordon off, cull, cull out, deal with, debate, decide between, decrassify, deliberate, deliberate upon, delve into, demarcate, demark, depurate, differentiate, dig into, discourse about, discriminate, discuss, distill, distinguish, divide, draw the line, edulcorate, elute, essentialize, evaluate, examine, excerpt, exchange views, explore, extract, factor, fathom, filter, filtrate, gauge, ghettoize, gin, glean, go into, gradate, grade, group, handle, handpick, identify, indagate, inquire into, insulate, investigate, isolate, keep apart, keep aside, knock around, lay aside, leach, lixiviate, look into, make a selection, mark the interface, pass under review, peer into, percolate, pick, pick out, plumb, poke into, probe, prospect, pry into, purify, put aside, quarantine, rank, rap, reason, reason about, reason the point, rectify, refine, review, riddle, screen, screen out, scrutinize, search into, seclude, segregate, select, separate, set a limit, set apart, set aside, set off, sever, severalize, sieve, sieve out, sift out, single out, size, sort, sort out, sound, spiritualize, split hairs, strain, study, subdivide, sublimate, sublime, subordinate, subtilize, take up, talk, talk about, talk of, talk over, thrash, thrash out, thresh, thresh out, treat, try, ventilate, weed out, weigh, winnow