sorting

Verb

sort (third-person singular simple present sorts, present participle sorting, simple past and past participle sorted)

1. (transitive) To separate items into different categories according to certain criteria that determine their sorts.
   • Sort the letters in those bags into a separate pile for each language.

   Synonyms:

   categorize, class, classify, group

2. (transitive) To arrange into some sequence, usually numerically, alphabetically or chronologically.
   • Sort those bells into a row in ascending sequence of pitch.

   Synonyms:

   order, rank

3. (transitive) To conjoin; to put together in distribution; to class.
   • Shellfish have been, by some of the ancients, compared and sorted with insecta.1635, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum, Or, A Naturall Historie in Ten Centuries
4. (obsolete, transitive) To conform; to adapt; to accommodate.
   • I pray thee, sort thy heart to patience.ca 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI part 2
5. (obsolete, transitive) To choose from a number; to select; to cull.
   • To send his mother to her father's house, that he may sort her out a worthy spouse1616, George Chapman, The Odysseys of Homer
6. (intransitive) To join or associate with others, especially with others of the same kind or species; to agree.
   • The illiberality of Parents in allowance towards their children is an harmefull error: makes them base; acquaints them with shifts, makes them sort with meane companie; and makes them surfet more, when they come to plenty.1625, Francis Bacon, Of Parents and Children

See all 23 meanings of sort