browse words by letter
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
sift |
4 definitions found 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 1.6 [wn]: sift v 1: move as if through a sieve; "The soliders sifted through the woods" 2: separate by sifting, as of flour; also used for information [syn: {sieve}, {strain}] From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: SIFT SHARE Internal Fortran Translator. Translation utility designed for converting Fortran II to Fortran IV The word sift" was often used as a verb to describe converting code from one language to another. Sammet 1969, p.153. From V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms 13 March 2001 [vera]: SIFT Software Implemeted Fault Tolerance (HIFT)
more about sift