Adjacent Words

sort out definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: arrange or order by classes or categories; "How would you classify these pottery shards--are they prehistoric?" [syn: classify, class, sort, assort, sort out, separate]
2: make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear; "Could you clarify these remarks?"; "Clear up the question of who is at fault" [syn: clear, clear up, shed light on, crystallize, crystallise, crystalize, crystalise, straighten out, sort out, enlighten, illuminate, elucidate]
3: punish in order to gain control or enforce obedience; "The teacher disciplined the pupils rather frequently" [syn: discipline, correct, sort out]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you sort out a group of things, you separate them into different classes, groups, or places, for example so that you can do different things with them. Sort out all your bills, receipts, invoices and expenses as quickly as possible and keep detailed accounts... Davina was sorting out scraps of material... How do we sort out fact from fiction? PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V P n (not pron), V P n (not pron) from n 2. If you sort out a problem or the details of something, you do what is necessary to solve the problem or organize the details. India and Nepal have sorted out their trade and security dispute... Have you sorted something out for tomorrow night? PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P 3. If you sort someone out, you make them realize that they have behaved wrongly, for example by talking to them or by punishing them. (mainly BRIT) It was the older women and young mothers who sorted all the troublemakers out... The crucial skill you need to develop is sorting out the parents. PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V P n (not pron) 4. If you sort yourself out, you organize yourself or calm yourself so that you can act effectively and reasonably. We're in a state of complete chaos here and I need a little time to sort myself out. PHRASAL VERB: V pron-refl P

Moby Thesaurus

analyze, answer, appraise, ascertain, assess, assort, assure, bolt, bottom, catalog, categorize, certify, cinch, clarify, class, classify, clear up, clinch, cogitate, collate, contradistinguish, cordon, cordon off, crack, cull out, debug, decide, decipher, decode, demarcate, demark, determine, differentiate, discriminate, disembroil, disentangle, disintricate, disinvolve, dismiss all doubt, distinguish, divide, divine, do, dope, dope out, draw the line, ensure, establish, evaluate, excogitate, explain, factor, fathom, figure out, find out, find the answer, find the solution, fix, gauge, get, get at, get right, ghettoize, gin, give thought to, gradate, grade, group, guess, guess right, have it, hit it, identify, insulate, insure, interpret, isolate, keep apart, keep aside, lay aside, make certain, make no doubt, make no mistake, make out, make sure, make sure of, mark the interface, nail down, open the lock, pick out, plumb, psych, psych out, put aside, puzzle out, quarantine, rank, ravel, ravel out, reason out, reassure, remove all doubt, resolve, riddle, screen, screen out, seclude, see that, see to it, segregate, select, separate, set a limit, set apart, set aside, set at rest, set off, settle, sever, severalize, sieve, sieve out, sift, sift out, size, solve, sort, split hairs, subdivide, subordinate, subtilize, think about, think out, think through, thrash, thrash out, thresh, unbraid, unclutter, uncoil, undo, unknot, unlock, unmix, unravel, unriddle, unscramble, unsnarl, untangle, unthread, untwine, untwist, unweave, unwind, weigh, winnow, work, work out