sift
Americanverb (used with object)
-
sifts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sifted,
past participle, past
-
sifting
present participle
-
to separate and retain the coarse parts of (flour, ashes, etc.) with a sieve.
-
to scatter or sprinkle through or by means of a sieve.
to sift sugar onto cake.
-
to separate by or as if by a sieve.
-
to examine closely.
The detectives are still sifting the evidence.
- Synonyms:
- probe, search, inspect, scrutinize, sort
-
to question closely.
verb (used without object)
-
sifts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sifted,
past participle, past
-
sifting
present participle
-
to sift something.
-
to pass or fall through or as if through a sieve.
verb
-
(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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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sifternoun
-
outsiftverb (used with object)
-
presiftverb (used with object)
-
resiftverb (used with object)
-
unsiftedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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siftsimple
-
siftssimple
-
have siftedperfect
-
has siftedperfect
-
am siftingprogressive
-
are siftingprogressive
-
is siftingprogressive
-
have been siftingperfect progressive
-
has been siftingperfect progressive
Past
-
siftedsimple
-
had siftedperfect
-
was siftingprogressive
-
were siftingprogressive
-
had been siftingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sift
before 900; Middle English siften, Old English siftan; cognate with Dutch, Middle Low German siften; akin to sieve
Explanation
To bake a cake, you sift the flour to get out the lumps. When you sift, you separate out one thing from another. When you sort through the mail looking for the bills or go through your photos to find that shot of your dog, that’s sifting, too. Detectives sift through piles of evidence when investigating crimes, and you might sift through the hundred applications you get from drummers eager to join your band, to find Ms. Right. When you're at the beach, you can sift sand through your fingers, and you might see big machines that sift the sand to clean it.
Vocabulary lists containing sift
Stairway To Leaven: Baking Vocabulary
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Holes
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Ender's Game
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Rescue teams and family members continue to sift through the rubble in La Guaira, searching for victims and loved ones.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
She remembers scooping up what remained of her artwork and watching it sift through her fingers, the porcelain broken and changed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
A member from this diversity committee sits on each of the other committees that sift through names that have been put forward.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
The next step for the agency is to sift through the many comments, which could lead to changes in the rule’s language.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
When the results came up, there was a lot to sift through — everything from movies and TV shows to role-playing games, underground metal, and gothic cosmetic companies.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
So Swalwell and his congressional chief of staff launched an AI technology company that sifts and analyzes campaign fundraising data.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026
AI sifts through tens of millions of records of data for marketers, who then create AI agents that carry out complex marketing tasks.
From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026
Yet from that painful personal source emerges something unfortunately indistinct, as though softly blanketed by the snow that sifts slowly down during this holiday drama.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025
In an office in central London, Signify's small team quietly sifts through thousands of posts.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
As for me, I sit in the sand, enjoying the gritty feeling as it sifts through my wriggling toes.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
AFP footage from the site showed a huge crater in the ground, next to which dozens of Palestinians sifted through what appeared to be medical supplies that had been scattered by the blast.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
The mud in the pit is sifted and shovelled.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
A Los Angeles Fire Department crew sifted through rubble on the property and found a wedding ring, along with other precious belongings, authorities said in a news release.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
We sifted through evidence and testimony to figure out how billionaires Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman ended up in a courtroom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Stanley sifted his fingers through the fresh piles of dirt, in case he had missed anything.
From "Holes" by Louis Sachar
The regional governor published photos of rescuers sifting through the rubble of a small house.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
They are getting better at sifting data into meaningful signals and meaningless noise.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
From her London base, she is up by 2 a.m. most days, calling locals and sifting through data to find companies ripe for a shake up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
“You’re sifting through a bunch of profiles. It’s really hard to understand and find somebody that’s compatible for you based on your specific types of preferences,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2026
Arthur and Guenever, like good children, sat with their hands in their laps to listen to the stories. like children, they wen alert and eager, sifting the truth as best they could.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
