sort

[ sawrt ]

/ sɔrt /

noun

a particular kind, species, variety, class, or group, distinguished by a common character or nature: to develop a new sort of painting; nice people, of course, but not really our sort.

character, quality, or nature: young people of a nice sort.

an example of something that is undistinguished or barely adequate: He is a sort of poet.

manner, fashion, or way: We spoke in this sort for several minutes.

Printing.

any of the individual characters making up a font of type.
characters of a particular font that are rarely used.

an instance of sorting.

verb (used with object)

to arrange according to sort, kind, or class; separate into sorts; classify: to sort socks; to sort eggs by grade.

to separate or take from other sorts or from others (often followed by out): to sort the good from the bad; to sort out the children's socks.

to assign to a particular class, group, or place (often followed by with, together, etc.): to sort people together indiscriminately.

Scot. to provide with food and shelter.

Computers. to place (records) in order, as numerical or alphabetical, based on the contents of one or more keys contained in each record.Compare key¹ (def. 19).

verb (used without object)

Archaic. to suit; agree; fit.

British Dialect. to associate, mingle, or be friendly.

Verb Phrases

sort out,

evolve; develop; turn out: We'll just have to wait and see how things sort out.
to put in order; clarify: After I sort things out here, I'll be able to concentrate on your problem.

QUIZZES

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What does “vacillate” mean?

to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute.

to cause to be empty or unoccupied.

to assent tacitly; agree; consent.

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Idioms for sort

of sorts,

of a mediocre or poor kind: a tennis player of sorts.
of one sort or another; of an indefinite kind.

Also of a sort .

out of sorts,

in low spirits; depressed.
in poor health; indisposed; ill.
in a bad temper; irritable: to be out of sorts because of the weather.
Printing. short of certain characters of a font of type.

sort of, Informal. in a way; somewhat; rather: Their conversation was sort of tiresome.

Origin of sort

First recorded in 1200–50; (noun) Middle English (noun) from Middle French sorte, from Medieval Latin sort- (stem of sors ) “kind, allotted status or portion, lot,” Latin: originally, “voter's lot;” Middle English (verb) sorten “to allot, arrange, assort” (from Middle French sortir ), from Latin sortīrī “to draw lots,” derivative of sors; later senses influenced by the noun and by assort

SYNONYMS FOR sort

1 class, family, order, rank, character, nature.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR sort ON THESAURUS.COM

usage note for sort

See kind².

OTHER WORDS FROM sort

sort·a·ble, adjectivesort·a·bly, adverbsorter, nounmis·sort, verb

subsort, nounsub·sort, verbsub·sort·er, nounun·der·sort, verb (used with object)un·sort, verb (used with object)un·sort·a·ble, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH sort

kind², sort , type(see usage note at kind²)(see usage note at type).

Words nearby sort

Sorrentino, Sorrento, sorrow, sorrowful, sorry, sort, sorta, sortal, sortation, sort code, sorted

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for sort

Is it sort of evidence of the Gladwellian 10,000 hours theory?
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I had enough experiences around languages that it just sort of happened.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
When he was first incarcerated, he says some sort of paperwork snafu had him imprisoned under two different, but similar, names.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside|Justin Rohrlich|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But I trusted Tony Robbins could sort me out on both fronts.
Can Self-Help Books Really Make a New You?|Lizzie Crocker|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Luckily, Tor was prepared for this sort of assault, and has built-in defenses to protect against it.
The Attack on the Hidden Internet|Marc Rogers|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Very true it is that proof of the sort desired is often impossible; but it is obtained sometimes.
The Problems of Psychical Research|Hereward Carrington
And then—well, I happen to forget what sort of a day this particular day turned into, about six of the clock.
Library of the World's Best literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 12|Various
You know, looking after the stores and all that sort of thing.
The War-Workers|E.M. Delafield
Lancken stiffened perceptibly at this suggestion and refused, frankly, saying that he could not do anything of the sort.
A Journal From Our Legation in Belgium|Hugh Gibson
I suppose it is a sort of nemesis of wit; the skidding of a wheel in the height of its speed.
George Bernard Shaw|Gilbert K. Chesterton

British Dictionary definitions for sort

sort

/ (sɔːt) /

noun

a class, group, kind, etc, as distinguished by some common quality or characteristic

informal type of character, nature, etche's a good sort

a more or less definable or adequate exampleit's a sort of review

(often plural) printing any of the individual characters making up a fount of type

archaic manner; wayin this sort we struggled home

after a sort to some extent

of sorts or of a sort

of an inferior kind
of an indefinite kind

out of sorts not in normal good health, temper, etc

sort of informal

(adverb) in some way or other; as it were; rather
(sentence substitute) used to express reservation or qualified assentI’m only joking. Sort of

verb

(tr) to arrange according to class, type, etc

(tr) to put (something) into working order

(tr) to arrange (computer information) by machine in an order convenient to the computer user

(tr foll by with) informal to supply, esp with drugs

(intr; foll by with, together, etc) archaic, or dialect to associate, as on friendly terms

(intr) archaic to agree; accord

Derived forms of sort

sortable, adjectivesortably, adverbsorter, noun

Word Origin for sort

C14: from Old French, from Medieval Latin sors kind, from Latin: fate

undefined sort

See kind 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

Idioms and Phrases with sort

sort

see after a fashion (sort); all kinds (sorts) of; bad sort; it takes all sorts; kind (sort) of; nothing of the kind (sort); of sorts; out of sorts.

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