Library / English Dictionary

SIFT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Distinguish and separate out

Example:

sift through the job candidates

Synonyms:

sieve; sift

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "sift" is one way to...):

choose; pick out; select; take (pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements

Example:

sift the flour

Synonyms:

sieve; sift; strain

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "sift" is one way to...):

separate (divide into components or constituents)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sift"):

rice (sieve so that it becomes the consistency of rice)

resift (sift anew)

riddle; screen (separate with a riddle, as grain from chaff)

winnow (separate the chaff from grain by using air currents)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

sieve (a strainer for separating lumps from powdered material or grading particles)

sifter (a household sieve (as for flour))

sifting (the act of separating grain from chaff)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Check and sort carefully

Example:

sift the information

Synonyms:

sieve; sift

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "sift" is one way to...):

analyse; analyze; canvass; examine; study (consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Move as if through a sieve

Example:

The soldiers sifted through the woods

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "sift" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Credits