sort

[ sawrt ]

/ sɔrt /

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See synonyms for: sort / sorted / sorting on Thesaurus.com

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,

to 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.

SYNONYMS FOR sort

1 class, family, order, rank.

2 character, nature.

See synonyms for sort on Thesaurus.com

QUIZZES

THINK YOU’VE GOT A HANDLE ON THIS US STATE NICKNAME QUIZ?

Did you ever collect all those state quarters? Put them to good use on this quiz about curious state monikers and the facts around them.

Question 1 of 8

Mississippi’s nickname comes from the magnificent trees that grow there. What is it?

The Sunflower State

The Evergreen State

The Magnolia State

The Mockingbird State

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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; Middle English noun, from Middle French sorte, from Medieval Latin sort- (stem of sors ) “kind, allotted status or portion, lot,” Latin: originally, “lot (for voting)”; Middle English verb sorten “to allot, arrange, assort,” from Middle French sortir or directly from Latin sortīrī “to draw lots,” derivative of sors; later senses influenced by the noun and by assort

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

kind, sort , type

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for sort

In addition to competitor analysis, SE Ranking can help you effectively solve all sorts of SEO tasks from keyword rank tracking and backlink monitoring to website audits and generating automatic reports.
Analyzing competition with SE Ranking tools|Sponsored Content: SE Ranking|November 19, 2020|Search Engine Land
It’s the page that will bring everyone closer to any sort of conversion.
Top strategies behind link building success|Tereza Litsa|November 16, 2020|Search Engine Watch
Ironically, Resolution Media represents Bilka’s major competitor in Denmark and so if he wanted to, Himmelstrup could engage in all sorts of mischief.
Hijacked Google My Business listings appear to be a growing problem|Greg Sterling|November 13, 2020|Search Engine Land
Of course, many of these updates are the sort of things that will be easier to check out when there isn’t a pandemic happening.
macOS Big Sur is now available|Brian Heater|November 12, 2020|TechCrunch

It’s the sort of shortcut you’d find on your desktop, linked to an application or a folder deeper within the operating system.
Become a Windows whiz by creating your own keyboard shortcuts|David Nield|November 12, 2020|Popular Science
Would God, an thou must needs stoop to such wantonness, thou hadst taken a man sortable to thy quality!
The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio|Giovanni Boccaccio

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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