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sift - 5 dictionary results

sift

  [sift]
Use sift in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to separate and retain the coarse parts of (flour, ashes, etc.) with a sieve.
2. to scatter or sprinkle through or by means of a sieve: to sift sugar onto cake.
3. to separate by or as if by a sieve.
4. to examine closely: The detectives are still sifting the evidence.
5. to question closely.
–verb (used without object)
6. to sift something.
7. to pass or fall through or as if through a sieve.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME siften, OE siftan; c. D, MLG siften; akin to sieve

Synonyms:
4. sort, scrutinize, inspect, search, probe.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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sift   (sĭft)   
v.   sift·ed, sift·ing, sifts

v.   tr.
  1. To put (flour, for example) through a sieve or other straining device in order to separate the fine from the coarse particles.
  2. To distinguish as if separating with a sieve: sifted the candidates for the job.
  3. To apply by scattering with or as if with a sieve: sift sugar on a dessert.
  4. To examine and sort carefully: sift the evidence.
v.   intr.
  1. To make use of a sieve.
  2. To pass through or as if through a sieve: a meal that sifts easily.
  3. To make a careful examination: sifted through back issues of the magazine.

[Middle English siften, from Old English siftan.]
sift'er n.
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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Sift

Sift\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sifted; p. pr. & vb. n. Sifting.] [AS. siftan, from sife sieve. [root]151a. See Sieve.]

1. To separate with a sieve, as the fine part of a substance from the coarse; as, to sift meal or flour; to sift powder; to sift sand or lime.

2. To separate or part as if with a sieve.

When yellow sands are sifted from below, The glittering billows give a golden show. --Dryden.

3. To examine critically or minutely; to scrutinize.

Sifting the very utmost sentence and syllable. --Hooker.

Opportunity I here have had To try thee, sift thee. --Milton.

Let him but narrowly sift his ideas. --I. Taylor.

To sift out, to search out with care, as if by sifting.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : sift
Spanish: tamizar,
German: sieben,
Japanese: ふるいにかける
More Translations »

sift 
O.E. siftan "pass something through a sieve," related to sife (see sieve). Cf. Du. ziften, M.L.G. sichten, Ger. sichten "to sift." Metaphoric sense of "look carefully through" first recorded 1535.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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SIFT
SHARE Internal Fortran Translator. Translation utility designed for converting Fortran II to Fortran IV. The word "sift" was often used as a verb to describe converting code from one language to another. Sammet 1969, p.153.

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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