sift
to separate by or as if by a sieve.
to examine closely: The detectives are still sifting the evidence.
to question closely.
to sift something.
to pass or fall through or as if through a sieve.
Origin of sift
1Other words for sift
Other words from sift
- outsift, verb (used with object)
- pre·sift, verb (used with object)
- re·sift, verb (used with object)
- un·sift·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use sift in a sentence
What sets Inside.com apart is the sheer volume of news it sifts daily: 1,000 stories – and it barely misses a beat.
“When it deteriorates it creates a hole, and everything above it sifts into that hole,” he said.
Eli Lake sifts through 100 pages of newly released documents—and finds more questions than answers.
Inside the Latest Benghazi Emails: No One Knew Much of Anything | Eli Lake | May 15, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTFor one thing, it sifts out many of our competing desires and focuses our motivations.
Why Favoritism Is Virtuous: The Case Against Fairness | Stephen T. Asma | December 7, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTEach week, The Daily Beast sifts through the cultural landscape to choose three top picks.
Immediately in front the light sifts down upon a rude bridge spanning a narrow stream.
The Saxons | Edwin Davies SchoonmakerThe snow sifts through my door and window until I have a regular snowbank all along the inside of the house.
The American Missionary | VariousIf yu ever sifts up my way drop in an' see me—th' boys'll give yu a good time.
Hopalong Cassidy's Rustler Round-Up | Clarence Edward MulfordThe best way is to take a bunch of evergreen boughs, and brush the snow up over the mound so that it sifts lightly over the trap.
Science of Trapping | Elmer Harry KrepsOver and again he questioned her in the midst of her wild speeches, as a judge sifts the words of a doubtful witness.
Silent Struggles | Ann S. Stephens
British Dictionary definitions for sift
/ (sɪft) /
(tr) to sieve (sand, flour, etc) in order to remove the coarser particles
to scatter (something) over a surface through a sieve
(tr) to separate with or as if with a sieve; distinguish between
(tr) to examine minutely: to sift evidence
(intr) to move as if through a sieve
Origin of sift
1Derived forms of sift
- sifter, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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