Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Sift"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
sift
v 1: move as if through a sieve; "The soldiers sifted through the
woods"
2: separate by passing through a sieve or other straining
device to separate out coarser elements; "sift the flour"
[syn: {sieve}, {strain}]
3: check and sort carefully; "sift the information" [syn: {sieve}]
4: distinguish and separate out; "sift through the job
candidates" [syn: {sieve}]
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