well filtered

filter (ˈfɪltə)
—n
1.	a porous substance, such as paper or sand, that allows fluid to pass but retains suspended solid particles: used to clean fluids or collect solid particles
2.	any device containing such a porous substance for separating suspensions from fluids
3.	any of various porous substances built into the mouth end of a cigarette or cigar for absorbing impurities such as tar
4.	See also band-pass filter any electronic, optical, or acoustic device that blocks signals or radiations of certain frequencies while allowing others to pass
5.	any transparent disc of gelatine or glass used to eliminate or reduce the intensity of given frequencies from the light leaving a lamp, entering a camera, etc
6.	(Brit) a traffic signal at a road junction consisting of a green arrow which when illuminated permits vehicles to turn either left or right when the main signals are red
—vb (foll by through)
7.	(often foll by out) to remove or separate (suspended particles, wavelengths of radiation, etc) from (a liquid, gas, radiation, etc) by the action of a filter
8.	(tr) to obtain by filtering
9.	to pass (through a filter or something like a filter): dust filtered through the screen
10.	(intr) to flow slowly; trickle
[C16 filtre from Medieval Latin filtrum piece of felt used as a filter, of Germanic origin; see felt²]

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 definition

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. [very common; orig. Unix, now also in 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.