filter

[fil-ter]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR filter ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any substance, as cloth, paper, porous porcelain, or a layer of charcoal or sand, through which liquid or gas is passed to remove suspended impurities or to recover solids.

any device, as a tank or tube, containing such a substance for filtering.

any of various analogous devices, as for removing dust from air or impurities from tobacco smoke, or for eliminating certain kinds of light rays.

something that works like a filter, as by removing, blocking, or separating out certain elements: Kids often talk without a filter. Events can be distorted through the filter of memory.

Informal. a filter-tipped cigarette or cigar.

Photography. a lens screen of dyed gelatin or glass for controlling the rendering of color or for diminishing the intensity of light.

Electronics, Physics. a circuit or device that passes certain frequencies and blocks others.

Mathematics. a collection of subsets of a topological space, having the properties that the intersection of two subsets in the collection is a subset in the collection and that any set containing a subset in the collection is in the collection.

verb (used with object)

to remove by the action of a filter.

to act as a filter for; to slow or partially obstruct the passage of: The thick leaves filtered the sunlight.

to pass through or as through a filter.

verb (used without object)

to pass or slip through slowly, as through an obstruction or a filter: Enemy agents managed to filter into the embattled country.

Origin of filter

1375–1425; late Middle English filtre < Medieval Latin filtrum “felt, piece of felt used to strain liquids” < Germanic; see felt²

Related formsfil·ter·er, nounnon·fil·ter, nouno·ver·fil·ter, verb (used with object)pre·fil·ter, nounre·fil·ter, verb (used with object)un·fil·ter·ing, adjectivewell-fil·tered, adjective

Synonyms for filter

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR filter ON THESAURUS.COM

12. penetrate, sift, seep, trickle, leak.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for filter

permeate, drain, clean, leak, winnow, sift, refine, percolate, penetrate, trickle, dribble, clarify, screen, purify, distill, strain, ooze, escape, sieve, exude

Examples from the Web for filter

Contemporary Examples of filter

We are overwhelmed with data from every quarter, and our capacity to filter fact from fraud is limited.
The Facts About Ferguson Matter, Dammit
Doug McIntyre
December 3, 2014
By using some sort of filter—like, perhaps, a universally understood saying—the trait is more easily conveyed.
Scotland’s ‘Yes’ Campaign and the Myth of Scottish Equality
Noah Caldwell
September 18, 2014
Basically, my mother said with a touch of embarrassment, everyone else seemed to have a filter, so they bought one, too.
Are Water Filters B.S.?
Michael Schulson
August 19, 2014
According to the box, the filter will provide me with better-tasting water.
Are Water Filters B.S.?
Michael Schulson
August 19, 2014
You research a world, and then you filter the results to fit a story.
Writing a Novel: Even Making It Up Requires Research
Ridley Pearson
July 16, 2014

Historical Examples of filter

The cut shows the filter provided with a portion of its bags and frames.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 447, July 26, 1884
Various
Let it stand, five or six months; then filter it, and bottle it for use.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
Put some quicklime and red orpiment in water, place some warm ashes under it for a whole day, filter the liquor, and cork it down.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
The water also was filtered through a filter of the mechanical type.
Rural Hygiene
Henry N. Ogden
From above a filter of sunlight fell and told her it was noon.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus

British Dictionary definitions for filter

filter

noun

a porous substance, such as paper or sand, that allows fluid to pass but retains suspended solid particles: used to clean fluids or collect solid particles

any device containing such a porous substance for separating suspensions from fluids

any of various porous substances built into the mouth end of a cigarette or cigar for absorbing impurities such as tar

any electronic, optical, or acoustic device that blocks signals or radiations of certain frequencies while allowing others to passSee also band-pass filter

any transparent disc of gelatine or glass used to eliminate or reduce the intensity of given frequencies from the light leaving a lamp, entering a camera, etc

British a traffic signal at a road junction consisting of a green arrow which when illuminated permits vehicles to turn either left or right when the main signals are red

verb

(often foll by out) to remove or separate (suspended particles, wavelengths of radiation, etc) from (a liquid, gas, radiation, etc) by the action of a filter

(tr) to obtain by filtering

(intr foll by through) to pass (through a filter or something like a filter)dust filtered through the screen

(intr) to flow slowly; trickle

Word Origin for filter

C16 filtre from Medieval Latin filtrum piece of felt used as a filter, of Germanic origin; see felt ²

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

Word Origin and History for filter

early 15c., from Old French filtre and directly from Medieval Latin filtrum "felt," which was used to strain impurities from liquid, from West Germanic *filtiz (see felt (n.)). Of cigarettes, from 1908.

1570s, from Medieval Latin filtrare, from filtrum (see filter (n.)). The figurative sense is from 1830. Related: Filtered; filtering.

filter in Medicine

filter

[fĭl′tər]

n.

A porous material through which a liquid or gas is passed in order to separate the fluid from suspended particulate matter.

A device containing such a substance.

Any of various electric, electronic, acoustic, or optical devices used to reject signals, vibrations, or radiations of certain frequencies while passing others.

A translucent screen, used in both diagnostic and therapeutic radiology, that permits the passage of rays having desirable levels of energy.

A device used in spectrophotometric analysis to isolate a segment of the spectrum.

v.

To pass a liquid or gas through a filter.

To remove by passing through a filter.

To pass through or as if through a filter.

filter in Science

filter

[fĭl′tər]

A material that has very tiny holes and is used to separate out solid particles contained in a liquid or gas that is passed through it.

A device that allows signals with certain properties, such as signals lying in a certain frequency range, to pass while blocking the passage of others. For example, filters on photographic lenses allow only certain frequencies of light to enter the camera, while polarizing filters allow only light polarized along a given plane to pass. Radio tuners are filters that allow frequencies of only a narrow range to pass into an amplification circuit.

filter in Culture

filter

A computer software program that selectively screens out incoming information.

Note

Spam may be the target of a filter, or parents may use a filter designed to prevent their child's access to pornographic or violent Web pages.