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filtered - 2 dictionary results

fil⋅ter

  [fil-ter]
Use filtered in a Sentence
–noun
1. any substance, as cloth, paper, porous porcelain, or a layer of charcoal or sand, through which liquid or gas is passed to remove suspended impurities or to recover solids.
2. any device, as a tank or tube, containing such a substance for filtering.
3. any of various analogous devices, as for removing dust from air or impurities from tobacco smoke, or for eliminating certain kinds of light rays.
4. Informal. a filter-tipped cigarette or cigar.
5. Photography. a lens screen of dyed gelatin or glass for controlling the rendering of color or for diminishing the intensity of light.
6. Electronics, Physics. a circuit or device that passes certain frequencies and blocks others.
7. Mathematics. a collection of subsets of a topological space, having the properties that the intersection of two subsets in the collection is a subset in the collection and that any set containing a subset in the collection is in the collection.
–verb (used with object)
8. to remove by the action of a filter.
9. to act as a filter for; to slow or partially obstruct the passage of: The thick leaves filtered the sunlight.
10. to pass through or as through a filter.
–verb (used without object)
11. to pass or slip through slowly, as through an obstruction or a filter: Enemy agents managed to filter into the embattled country.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME filtre < ML filtrum felt, piece of felt used to strain liquids < Gmc; see felt 2

Related forms:
fil⋅ter⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
11. penetrate, sift, seep, trickle, leak.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To filtered
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 material, especially one used to extract impurities from air or water.
    3. Any of various electric, electronic, acoustic, or optical devices used to reject signals, vibrations, or radiations of certain frequencies while allowing others to pass.
    4. A colored glass or other transparent material used to select the wavelengths of light allowed to reach a photosensitive material.
    1. Any of various electric, electronic, acoustic, or optical devices used to reject signals, vibrations, or radiations of certain frequencies while allowing others to pass.
    2. A colored glass or other transparent material used to select the wavelengths of light allowed to reach a photosensitive material.
  3. 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.
  1. To pass (a liquid or gas) through a filter.
  2. To remove by passing through a filter: filter out impurities.
  3. Computer Science To use a filter to block access to (a website or Web content).
v.   intr.
  1. To pass through or as if through a filter: Light filtered through the blinds.
  2. 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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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