What does sift mean?

Definitions for sift
sɪftsift

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word sift.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. siftverb

    move as if through a sieve

    "The soldiers sifted through the woods"

  2. sift, sieve, strainverb

    separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements

    "sift the flour"

  3. sieve, siftverb

    check and sort carefully

    "sift the information"

  4. sieve, siftverb

    distinguish and separate out

    "sift through the job candidates"

Wiktionary

  1. siftverb

    To sieve or strain (something).

  2. siftverb

    To separate or scatter (things) as if by sieving.

  3. siftverb

    To examine (something) carefully.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To SIFTverb

    Etymology: siftan , Saxon; siften, Dutch.

    In the sifting of such favour all that came out could not be expected to be pure meal, but must have a mixture of padar and bran. Henry Wotton.

    When yellow sands are sifted from below,
    The glitt’ring billows give a golden show. Dryden.

    We have sifted your objections against those pre-eminences royal. Richard Hooker, Preface.

    All which the wit of Calvin could from thence draw, by sifting the very utmost sentence and syllable, is no more than that certain speeches seem to intimate, that all Christian churches ought to have their elderships. Richard Hooker.

    I fear me, if thy thoughts were sifted,
    The king thy sovereign is not quite exempt
    From envious malice of thy swelling heart. William Shakespeare, Hen. VI.

    As near as I could sift him on that argument. William Shakespeare.

    Opportunity I here have had
    To try thee, sift thee, and confess have found thee
    Proof against all temptation as a rock
    Of adamant. John Milton, Paradise Regain’d.

    One would think, that every member who embraces with vehemence the principles of either of these parties, had thoroughly sifted and examined them, and was secretly convinced of their preference to those he rejects. Addison.

ChatGPT

  1. sift

    Sift is a verb that primarily refers to the process of passing a loose substance such as flour, sugar, or sand through a sieve or sifter to remove any lumps or impurities. It can also metaphorically refer to examining something thoroughly in order to separate the valuable or relevant parts from the whole.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Siftverb

    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. Siftverb

    to separate or part as if with a sieve

  3. Siftverb

    to examine critically or minutely; to scrutinize

  4. Etymology: [AS. siftan, from sife sieve. 151a. See Sieve.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Sift

    sift, v.t. to separate with, or as with, a sieve: to examine closely.—n. Sift′er, one who, or that which, sifts. [A.S. siftansife, a sieve.]

Suggested Resources

  1. SIFT

    What does SIFT stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the SIFT acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Matched Categories

Anagrams for sift »

  1. fist

  2. FIST

  3. fits

How to pronounce sift?

How to say sift in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of sift in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of sift in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of sift in a Sentence

  1. Corey Basch:

    We are seeing an influx of advertising aimed at parents for a wide array of products, including food and beverages, toothpaste and vitamins, this is a sad situation when it takes so much energy to sift through false claims and to determine which products are actually healthful ... advertising claims, especially when they are unsubstantiated, can certainly lead parents astray.

  2. Joe Biden:

    The American public are trying to sift their way through what's real and what’s fake, and I don’t think as I’ve ever seen a time when the political coverage- the choice of what political coverage the voter looks to has much impact on what they believe. They go to get reinforced on their views, whether it's MSNBC or whether it's Fox.

  3. Rickey Smith:

    The science is how do I fuse them together? How do I take multiple optical, infrared, and electromagnetic sensors and use them all at once in real-time, if you are out in the desert in an operational setting, infrared alone may be constrained heat so you need all types of sensors together and machines can help us sift through information.

  4. Bryson DeChambeau:

    Its just a great test of golf to start out the first round of Masters, and to be honest, its great to sift through some of the really good players and maybe not so great players in this event right now. And look, its not to say they are bad players. Its just its very difficult out there and every aspect of your game has to be on point. So its kind of nice, you can almost break away from the pack if you play well.

  5. Richard A. Stone:

    Sift through my insanity and revel in my greatness

Popularity rank by frequency of use

sift#10000#33817#100000

Translations for sift

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"sift." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/sift>.

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