- 1[transitive] sift something to put flour or some other fine substance through a sifter Sift the flour into a bowl.
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- 2[transitive, intransitive] to examine something very carefully in order to decide what is important or useful or to find something important sift something We will sift every scrap of evidence. Computers are being used to sift the information. sift through something Crash investigators have been sifting through the wreckage of the aircraft.
- 3[transitive] sift something (out) from something to separate something from a group of things He sifted the relevant data from the rest. She looked quickly through the papers, sifting out from the pile anything that looked interesting. Phrasal Verbssift out
sift
verbNAmE//sɪft//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they sift he / she / it sifts
past simple sifted
-ing form sifting
Check pronunciation: sift