filter

fil·ter   (fĭl'tər)    n.   A porous material through which a liquid or gas is passed in order to separate the fluid from suspended particulate matter. A device containing such a material, especially one used to extract impurities from air or water. Any of various electric, electronic, acoustic, or optical devices used to reject signals, vibrations, or radiations of certain frequencies while allowing others to pass. A colored glass or other transparent material used to select the wavelengths of light allowed to reach a photosensitive material. Any of various electric, electronic, acoustic, or optical devices used to reject signals, vibrations, or radiations of certain frequencies while allowing others to pass. A colored glass or other transparent material used to select the wavelengths of light allowed to reach a photosensitive material. Computer Science A program or routine that blocks access to data that meet a particular criterion: a Web filter that screens out vulgar sites. v.   fil·tered, fil·ter·ing, fil·ters v.   tr. To pass (a liquid or gas) through a filter. To remove by passing through a filter: filter out impurities. Computer Science To use a filter to block access to (a website or Web content). v.   intr. To pass through or as if through a filter: Light filtered through the blinds. To come or go gradually and in small groups: The audience filtered back into the hall. [Middle English filtre, from Old French, from Medieval Latin filtrum, of Germanic origin; see pel-5 in Indo-European roots.] fil'ter·er n., fil'ter·less adj.

filter

A computer software program that selectively screens out incoming information.

Note: Spam may be the target of a filter, or parents may use a filter designed to prevent their child's access to pornographic or violent Web pages.

filter  (n.)

Filter

A set of criteria used to help an investor narrow down which financial instruments or conditions of financial instruments are the most profitable.

Investopedia Commentary

Most beginner investors feel overwhelmed by the large number of financial products available in each type of market. Filters help narrow down the investor's or trader's search, so the decision of which securities to trade is less complicated. Filters are not limited to finding companies by stock screeners technical analysis tools can also help an investor or trader find a particular financial instrument. For example, if a trader wants to find financial instruments that are trading above their 200-day moving average, he or she can use a filter to find such instruments.

Related Links

Getting To Know Stock Screeners
Introduction to Types of Trading: Technical Traders
Introduction to Types of Trading: Fundamental Traders

See also: Moving Average, Simple Moving Average, Stock Screener, Technical Analysis

Main Entry: ¹fil·ter
Pronunciation: 'fil-t&r
Function: noun
1 : a porous article or mass (as of paper or sand) through which agas or liquid is passed to separate out matter in suspension
2 : an apparatus containing a filter medium
3 a : a device or material for suppressing orminimizing waves or oscillations of certain frequencies (as of electricity, light, or sound) b : a transparent material (as colored glass) that absorbs light of certain wavelengths orcolors selectively and is used for modifying light that reaches a sensitized photographic material called also color filter

filter fil·ter (fĭl'tər)
n.

1. A porous material through which a liquid or gas is passed in order to separate the fluid from suspended particulate matter.

2. A device containing such a substance.

3. Any of various electric, electronic, acoustic, or optical devices used to reject signals, vibrations, or radiations of certain frequencies while passing others.

4. A translucent screen, used in both diagnostic and therapeutic radiology, that permits the passage of rays having desirable levels of energy.

5. A device used in spectrophotometric analysis to isolate a segment of the spectrum.

v. fil·tered, fil·ter·ing, fil·ters

1. To pass a liquid or gas through a filter.

2. To remove by passing through a filter.

3. To pass through or as if through a filter.

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fil'ter·er n.
fil'ter·less adj.

filter   (fĭl'tər)  Pronunciation Key  A material that has very tiny holes and is used to separate out solid particles contained in a liquid or gas that is passed through it. A device that allows signals with certain properties, such as signals lying in a certain frequency range, to pass while blocking the passage of others. For example, filters on photographic lenses allow only certain frequencies of light to enter the camera, while polarizing filters allow only light polarized along a given plane to pass. Radio tuners are filters that allow frequencies of only a narrow range to pass into an amplification circuit.

filter
1. (Originally Unix, now also MS-DOS) A program that processes an input data stream into an output data stream in some well-defined way, and does no I/O to anywhere else except possibly on error conditions; one designed to be used as a stage in a pipeline (see plumbing). Compare sponge.
2. (functional programming) A higher-order function which takes a predicate and a list and returns those elements of the list for which the predicate is true. In Haskell:
filter p [] = [] filter p (x:xs) = if p x then x : rest else rest where rest = filter p xs
See also filter promotion.
[The Jargon File]