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sorting

American  
[sawr-ting] / ˈsɔr tɪŋ /

noun

Geology.

  1. the process by which sedimentary particles become separated according to some particular characteristic, as size or shape.

sorting Scientific  
/ sôr′tĭng /

  1. The process by which sediment particles that have a certain characteristic, such as a given shape or grain size, are separated from other associated particles by an active agent of transportation, such as wind, a stream, or a glacier.

  2. A measure of the degree to which this process has occurred within a body of sediment. Wind-blown sediments are usually well-sorted because only a small range of grain sizes can be lifted by a particular wind velocity. Glacially derived sediments are usually poorly sorted because of the great range of particle sizes that are picked up by a moving glacier.

Etymology

Origin of sorting

sort + -ing 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The stock market, enduring an intense period of AI disruption, is sorting through which software companies are going to come out winners—and which appear headed the other way.

From Barron's

Like FedEx, large companies across America are sorting through the technical back end, guardrails and policies that will form the basis for their fleet of AI agents.

From The Wall Street Journal

Another being transported through a sorting centre in Germany caught fire at Leipzig airport just before it was due to be loaded on to an aircraft.

From BBC

Then we get back to work on the spare room and Bubbe’s bedroom: moving clothes, packing up boxes, tidying and sorting the house till it looks as close to presentable as it’s going to get.

From Literature

More than that, the relationship of the new Section 122 tariffs with existing trade agreements requires sorting out, with battalions of lawyers and consultants ready to provide high-priced advice on the rapidly changing environment.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.