sift
[sift]
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- to sift something.
- to pass or fall through or as if through a sieve.
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Origin of sift
before 900; Middle English siften, Old English siftan; cognate with Dutch, Middle Low German siften; akin to sieve
Synonyms
See more synonyms for sift on Thesaurus.com4. sort, scrutinize, inspect, search, probe.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sift
Contemporary Examples
Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl.
But should you lack the energy to sift through the glut of options yourself, we can at least helpfully endorse this one.
But if you can sift through all of the legal posturing, a fairly accurate portrait of Sterling himself does begin to emerge.
Sift the dry ingredients over a piece of parchment paper and then pour into a medium bowl.
It is advice to sift, pore over, and weigh up, with a view to us deciding for ourselves.
Historical Examples
Sift the baking powder and spices with the flour and add these.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 4Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Mix and sift the dry ingredients and stir these into the mixture.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 4Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Pour in the milk and sift the dry ingredients into this mixture.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 4Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Having resolved to sift and examine the entire heap, I at once set about my task.
Green MansionsW. H. Hudson
Sift two pounds of flour into a pan, and add a salt-spoon of salt.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
sift
- (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 minutelyto sift evidence
- (intr) to move as if through a sieve
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Word Origin
Old English siftan; related to Middle Low German siften to sift, Dutch ziften; see sieve
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 sift
v.
Old English siftan "pass (something) through a sieve," from Proto-Germanic *sib- (cf. Dutch ziften, Middle Low German sichten, German sichten "to sift;" see sieve (n.)). Intransitive sense "to pass loosely or fall scatteredly" is from 1590s. Metaphoric sense of "look carefully through" first recorded 1530s. Related: Sifted; sifting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper