sift out
sift out verb: to isolate or identify one particular thing from a collection that includes less relevant things.
Verb
sift out (third-person singular simple present sifts out, present participle sifting out, simple past and past participle sifted out)
- To isolate or identify one particular thing from a collection that includes less relevant things.
- So in the waning days of the 20th Century, concert programmers and ticket-buyers alike have become informed and careful about what to sell and what to buy; to sift out the good new music from the not-so-good.1997, Valerie Cruice, When Do I Clap?: A Slightly Irreverent Guide to Classical Music and Concert Hall Conduct, →ISBN, page 129
- Besides, a little judicious eavesdropping might sift out a useful nugget or two.2005, Timothy Zahn, Night Train to Rigel, →ISBN, page 159
Synonyms of sift out
Forms of sift out
| third-person singular present | sifts out |
|---|---|
| present participle | sifting out |
| past participle | sifted out |
| past | sifted out |
Questions about sift out
- What does sift out mean?
- Sift out means to isolate or identify one particular thing from a collection that includes less relevant things.
- What part of speech is sift out?
- Sift out is a verb.
- What is the past tense of sift out?
- The past tense of sift out is sifted out.
Words near sift out in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sift out (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-sift out.ogg.
Cite this entry: “sift out.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sift_out. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.