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.

OTHER WORDS FOR sort

1 class, family, order, rank.

2 character, nature.

See synonyms for sort on Thesaurus.com

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Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Idioms about 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. 2023

How to use sort in a sentence

I think of it as a personal Eater 38 of sorts, a reminder of what exactly about my city’s local restaurant scene feels most necessary, or comforting, or essential to me.
Overwhelmed by How to Help the Restaurant Industry? Make a List.|Erin DeJesus|November 20, 2020|Eater
Like, news links, these are sort of a minority of the views all in and people’s news feed and Facebook.
EmTech Stage: Facebook’s CTO on misinformation|Tate Ryan-Mosley|November 18, 2020|MIT Technology Review
In this bonus content our Host Jennifer Strong and her team reimagine Hao’s reporting, gamifying it into an audio postcard of sorts.
What is AI? We made this to help.|Tate Ryan-Mosley|November 18, 2020|MIT Technology Review
This would lead to the same sort of extra melting here that Painter’s team had seen.
Surprising long-haul dust and tar are melting high glaciers|Sid Perkins|November 17, 2020|Science News For Students

So as a result, they exhibit a sort of rational hypocrisy, where they say different things to different audiences.
Capitalism must be saved by capitalists, argue these pioneering ESG investors|kdunn6|November 15, 2020|Fortune
Mr. Lion sorter study, un Brer Rabbit sot dar, he did, un wash his face un lick his paws.
Nights With Uncle Remus|Joel Chandler Harris
He sorter fear'd er snakes, but he feel 'roun' en he feel 'roun', yit he aint feel no fish.
Nights With Uncle Remus|Joel Chandler Harris
T wa'n't nothin' but bird shot, so I sorter stuck in a marble.
The Calico Cat|Charles Miner Thompson
Sorter clears him out, you know, of all the slumgullion that's in him.
Stories in Light and Shadow|Bret Harte
Grate king, Mars Jon, what sorter ammynishun did dem dare yankeys shoot outen dare kannons ennyhow?
The Broken Sword|Dennison Worthington

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

Other 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.

sort

OTHER WORDS FOR sort

Idioms about sort

Origin of sort

usage note for sort

OTHER WORDS FROM sort

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH sort

Words related to sort

How to use sort in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sort

Derived forms of sort

Word Origin for sort

undefined sort

Other Idioms and Phrases with sort