sift

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb move as if through a sieve
  2. verb separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements
  3. verb check and sort carefully

Etymology

From Middle English syften, from Old English siftan, from Proto-West Germanic *siftijan.

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