siftn.
rare.† 1. A sieve. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > sifting > [noun] > sieve
sievec725
riddereOE
hair-sievea1100
riddlelOE
sift1499
try?a1500
searcer1540
range-sieve1542
ranging sieve1548
cribble1565
cribe1570
screen1573
sifter1611
scryc1615
clensieve1623
cernicle1657
incernicle1657
ranch-sievea1665
duster1667
drum1702
fry1707
harp1788
lawn-sieve1804
trial1825
separator1830
lawn1853
shaker1906
chinois1937
microscreen1959
1499 Promptorium Parvulorum (Pynson) sig. cv/2 Cyue or cifte, cribrum, cribellum.
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck at Zijgen to Runne through a Sift, or a Strainer.
2. The act of sifting (in quot. figurative); the fact of falling as from a sieve.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > sifting > [noun]
siftingc1440
sieving1499
riddling1552
cribration1617
screening1651
garble1808
sift1814
ricing1893
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > [noun] > dropping or falling vertically > falling as from a sieve
sift1866
1814 F. Burney Wanderer I. 60 I don't say this by way of a sift.
1866 B. Taylor Poet's Jrnl. Dec. The rustling sift of falling snow.
3. ‘Something that falls or passes as if from the meshes of a sieve; sifting or sifted material’ ( Cent. Dict. 1891).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > sifting > [noun] > sifted matter
sift1876
siftage1881
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > [noun] > dropping or falling vertically > falling as from a sieve > that which
sift1876
1876 G. M. Hopkins Wreck of Deutschland iv, in Poems (1967) 52 I am soft sift In an hourglass.
1962 M. E. Murie Two in Far North ii. ix. 192 The little sift of snow on the ice was marked only by tracks of ox.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online September 2020).
siftv.
/sɪft/, U.S. /sɪft/ 1.
a. transitive. To pass (something) through a sieve, in order to separate the coarse from the fine particles, or to strain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > general preparation processes > perform general preparation processes [verb (transitive)] > strain or sift
siftc725
strainc1386
drawa1425
sieve1499
tammy1903
rice1904
c725 Corpus Gloss. C 873 Crebrat, siftið.
c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxiv. §11 Swa swa mon meolo seft [v.r. sift]; ðæt meolo ðurgcrypð ælc ðyrel.
c1000 Ælfric Gram. (Z.) 137 Cribro, ic syfte.
c1386 G. Chaucer Canon's Yeoman's Tale 388 Al this mullok in a sive y-throwe, And sifted, and y-piked many a throwe.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum xvii. lxvii. (Tollem. MS.) Mele is grounde at mylle, and sefted with a seue.
c1415 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) p. xcvi A dyssh full of aysshes fayre syfte.
c1430 Two Cookery Bks. 38 Þan bray hem smal y-now; & þerow a crees bunte syfte hem.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 77/1 Cyftyn, cribro.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 718/2 I wyll nat syft my meale thorowe this syve, it is to course.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. iv. f. 22 The myners..in dyuers places syfted the same on the drye lande.
1603 in J. Gage Hist. & Antiq. Hengrave, Suffolk (1822) 23 Item, one fier sholve made like a grate to seft the seacole wth.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 85 They sweep a place very clean to sift the lime in, and when it is sifted they make it up in a heap.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 69. ⁋11 Two of the Fair Sex, who are usually employed in sifting Cinders.
1769 E. Raffald Experienced Eng. House-keeper xi. 254 Beat and sift half a Pound of double refined Sugar.
1832 G. R. Porter Treat. Manuf. Porcelain & Glass 303 The same powdered whiting..may be used again..upon being ground and sifted.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. viii. 68 A country contract which was to be sifted before carted.
b. In figurative or transferred uses.
ΚΠ
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Amos ix. B Though I siffte ye house of Israel amonge all nacions.
1589 Pappe w. Hatchet in Lyly's Wks. (1902) III. 408 They haue sifted the holie Bible, and left vs nothing as they say, but branne.
1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xxx. 28 To sift the nations with the sieue of vanitie. View more context for this quotation
1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures iv. 8 The things of God..lose their value and force, when they are sifted through so many hands.
1822 W. Tennant Thane of Fife i. lxxv When the North [wind] should burst his bleak confines, And in his icy boulter sift the snow.
1871 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. x. 286 The solar light is sifted by the landscape.
2. figurative.
a. To make trial of (a person).In early quots. after Luke xxii. 31.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > trial, test, or testing > try or test [verb (transitive)] > test (a person)
fandc893
fanc1000
sifta1400
to try out1974
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 15523 He wil þe sift nu if he mai, as man dos corn or bran.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Luke xxii. 31 Satan hath desyred after you, that he might siffte you euen as wheate.
a1593 C. Marlowe Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604) sig. F Sathan begins to sift me with his pride.
?1624 T. Scott Vox Dei 76 Is it not a great and dangerous temptation, (o all yee that know what temptation is, what it is to be siffed, what it is to resist) that young men meet in the world?
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iv. xv. 315 For these reasons Lady Elizabeth was closely kept and narrowly sifted all her Sisters reigne.
1718 Free-thinker No. 75. 2 The more [the Sincere Man] is sifted, the more he is intrusted.
b. To subject (one) to close questioning.
ΚΠ
a1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) sig. Eiij The knaue beginneth to sift me.
1588 R. Greene Pandosto sig. Ev He therefore beganne to sifte her more narrowely on this manner.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 30 Being curiously sifted by the guard at the City-gate, and being asked many questions.
1694 E. Gibson Let. 15 Dec. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Lit. Men (1843) 235 For fear it should be some you have employ'd, I have got one to sift him.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. vi. 114 He multiplied his Questions, and sifted me thoroughly upon every part of this Head.
1756 H. Walpole Let. to H. Mann 16 May I sifted Dr. Pringle himself, but he would not give me a positive answer.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian v, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. II. 101 You must speak with this wench,..you must sift her a wee bit.
1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth lv Blind Hans's boy..was sifted narrowly by my master, and stammered and faltered.
3. † c. To search; to try. Obsolete.
a. figurative. To examine closely into, to scrutinize narrowly, so as to find out the truth.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > scrutinize [verb (transitive)]
through-seekOE
gropea1250
to search outa1382
ensearch1382
boltc1386
examinea1387
ransackc1390
ripea1400
search1409
overreach?a1425
considerc1425
perquirec1460
examec1480
peruse?1520
grounda1529
study1528
oversearch1532
perscrute1536
scrute1536
to go over ——1537
scan1548
examinate1560
rifle1566
to consider of1569
excuss1570
ripe1573
sift1573
sift1577
to pry into ——1581
dive1582
rub1591
explore1596
pervestigate1610
dissecta1631
profound1643
circumspect1667
scrutinize1671
perscrutatea1679
introspect1683
rummage1690
reconnoitre1740
scrutinate1742
to look through1744
scrutiny1755
parse1788
gun1819
cat-haul1840
vivisect1876
scour1882
microscope1888
tooth-comb1893
X-ray1896
comb1904
fine-tooth comb1949
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > scrutinize [verb (transitive)] > assess conduct, suitability, etc.
sift1573
to watch a person's water1640
to put (a horse, etc.) through (its, etc.) paces1766
to check up (on) (also to check on)1911
vet1924
process1925
to check out1962
1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 11 Thes men..whos opinions I have desirid to be thurrouly siftid.
1592 T. Tymme Plaine Discouerie Ten Eng. Lepers L 4 Let no man take upon him to scan and sift Gods workes.
1650 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica (ed. 2) i. viii. 23 We..may accordingly explore and sift their verities.
1735 G. Berkeley Def. Free-thinking in Math. §15 Others who are not afraid to sift the principles of human science.
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. II. 189 I have endeavoured with great pains to sift the history to the bottom.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. ix. 160 We will sift this matter to the uttermost.
1849 F. W. Robertson Serm. (1866) 1st Ser. xxi. 350 It is..very hard to sift a slander.
1884 L. J. Jennings in Croker Papers I. i. 14 The art with which he sifted the evidence of the witnesses.
b. Similarly with out.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > scrutinize [verb (transitive)]
through-seekOE
gropea1250
to search outa1382
ensearch1382
boltc1386
examinea1387
ransackc1390
ripea1400
search1409
overreach?a1425
considerc1425
perquirec1460
examec1480
peruse?1520
grounda1529
study1528
oversearch1532
perscrute1536
scrute1536
to go over ——1537
scan1548
examinate1560
rifle1566
to consider of1569
excuss1570
ripe1573
sift1573
sift1577
to pry into ——1581
dive1582
rub1591
explore1596
pervestigate1610
dissecta1631
profound1643
circumspect1667
scrutinize1671
perscrutatea1679
introspect1683
rummage1690
reconnoitre1740
scrutinate1742
to look through1744
scrutiny1755
parse1788
gun1819
cat-haul1840
vivisect1876
scour1882
microscope1888
tooth-comb1893
X-ray1896
comb1904
fine-tooth comb1949
1577 M. Hanmer tr. Bp. Eusebius in Aunc. Eccl. Hist. v. xii. 86 When as Tatianus promised to sifte out, the darke speaches and hidd mysteries of holy Scripture.
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 578 This word..ought to teach vs not to sift out the life of our soueraign prince.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iv. vii. 272 If the cause be difficult, his diligence is the greater to sift it out.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 70 They were lodg'd in my house for some dayes, which I spent in sifting out their humour and manner of life.
1737 W. Whiston tr. Josephus Jewish War ii. ii, in tr. Josephus Genuine Wks. 760 He tried to sift out the accounts of the money.
1827 R. Pollok Course of Time I. i. 10 Severely sifting out The whole idea.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > investigate, examine [verb (transitive)]
underseekc897
speerc900
lookeOE
askOE
seeOE
teem witnessc1200
seeka1300
fand13..
inquirec1300
undergoc1315
visit1338
pursuea1382
searcha1382
examinec1384
assay1387
ensearchc1400
vesteyea1425
to have in waitc1440
perpend1447
to bring witnessc1475
vey1512
investigate?1520
recounta1530
to call into (also in) question1534
finger1546
rip1549
sight1556
vestigatea1561
to look into ——1561
require1563
descry?1567
sound1579
question1590
resolve1593
surview1601
undersearch1609
sift1611
disquire1621
indagate1623
inspect1623
pierce1640
shrive1647
in-looka1649
probe1649
incern1656
quaeritate1657
inquisite1674
reconnoitre1740
explore1774
to bring to book1786
look-see1867
scrutate1882
to shake down1915
sleuth1939
screen1942
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > search for or seek [verb (transitive)] > search (a place)
seekc1230
searcha1382
lay1560
ferret1582
sift1611
inquire?1615
hunt1712
screenge1825
1611 T. Middleton & T. Dekker Roaring Girle sig. C2 I will sift all the tauerns ith citty, and..ile find her out.
a1633 Visct. Falkland Hist. Edward II (1680) 18 They sift each way might break this fond inchantment.
4. reflexive.1874 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 1st Ser. 133 In Pope..the grain has sifted itself from the chaff.
a. To separate, to take or get out, by the use of a sieve. Also transferred and in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > sifting > sift [verb (reflexive)]
sift1428
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > sifting > sift [verb (transitive)] > remove by sifting
sift1428
out-tryc1550
lue1674
sieve1860
1428 in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 6 He syfted oute of yt half a bushell of plaster and lyme.
c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. xxxi/1 The marchauntis straungers Nowe vse..to sarse syfte and trye out the beste greyne.
1554–9 in T. Wright Songs & Ballads Philip & Mary (1860) (Roxb.) 4 And eke the fyne flowr from the bran nerly syfft.
?1602 Narcissus (MS Bodl. Rawl. poet. 212) (1893) App. i. 7 I have sifted out..the flower of my fancye.
1631 W. Gouge Gods Three Arrowes i. §15. 21 Yet can the Lord..as a few precious jewels in..a great heap of rubbish sift them out.
1758 A. Reid tr. P. J. Macquer Elements Theory & Pract. Chym. I. 262 Having sifted out and thrown away all the finest particles.
1843 T. Carlyle Past & Present i. v. 39 That it will be got sifted, like wheat out of chaff, from the Twenty-seven Million British subjects.
1872 W. K. Clifford Lect. (1879) I. 176 The lightest gas comes out quickest, and is as it were sifted from the other.
b. figurative. To find out, get to know, by a process of elimination or close inquiry.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > find out, discover [verb (transitive)] > as by sifting, teasing, etc.
tozec1450
to pick out1523
to bolt out1545
sift1592
pumpa1637
incern1656
probe1699
mole1856
to winkle out1942
1592 A. Day 2nd Pt. Eng. Secretorie sig. N4v, in Eng. Secretorie (rev. ed.) When by Interrogation we sift out any thing.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xxxii. 195 To labour in sifting out a Philosophicall truth.
1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 268 I endeavour'd to sift the Secret from him.
1805 G. Ellis Let. in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Sir W. Scott (1837) II. ii. 75 I should think Ritson himself..would be puzzled to sift out a single additional anecdote of the poet's life.
1833 T. Hook Parson's Daughter II. vii. 127 Then perhaps, you may sift out some farther particulars.
1851 A. Helps Compan. Solitude x. 188 It will be investigated, and what there is true in it be sifted out.
5. To clear or clean from impurities, etc., by means of a sieve; also figurative, to clean (one) out of money.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > make poor or impoverish [verb (transitive)]
destroy1297
poverisha1382
apoora1400
impover1418
poora1425
dispurveyc1430
impoverish1440
beggar1528
weaken1530
ruinate1547
ruin1560
depauper1562
depoverish1569
craze1573
soak1577
sift1591
waste1599
impoor1613
uncluea1616
depauperate1623
disenrich1647
necessitate1647
erumnate1676
straiten1699
poorify1711
pauperize1806
pauperate1839
pauper1841
to clear out1884
immiserate1956
penny-pincha1961
immiserize1971
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > sifting > sift [verb (transitive)]
try1382
searcec1400
garble1419
riddle1440
sieve1499
cribble1558
cribe1570
sift1591
succernate1623
cribrate1627
percribrate1652
screen1657
ridder1743
1591 R. Greene Second Pt. Conny-catching sig. C He..little suspected that his Countrey man the Setter had sifted him out of his money.
a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 54/2 You are at best but honourable Earth..how e're sifted from that courser Bran Which doth compound, and knead the common Man.
1660 R. Sharrock Hist. Propagation & Improvem. Veg. 17 Sift it from stones and rubbish.
6.
a. To cover over, by letting something fall through a sieve.
ΚΠ
1563 T. Hill Arte Gardening (1593) 14 The which allies and walkes you shall sift ouer with the finest sand.
b. To let fall through, scatter from or by means of, a sieve. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scatter [verb (transitive)] > sprinkle > by means of a sieve
sift1664
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)] > let fall or drop > let fall as from a sieve
sift1664
1664 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense 67 in Sylva If this [soil] be too stiff sift a little Lime discreetly with it.
1669 J. Flavell Husbandry Spiritualized App. 263 The finest and richest mold must be sifted about the roots.
1767 H. Glasse Art of Cookery (new ed.) App. 361 You must sift some fine sugar upon your cake, when it goes into the oven.
1772 T. Simpson Compl. Vermin-killer 26 Cover it lightly over with earth,..sift it over the trap.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 85 Along the floor some sand I'll sift.
1855 ‘E. S. Delamer’ Kitchen Garden 37 After sowing,..sift over the top a thin layer of cinder-ashes or lime-rubbish.
1869 B. Harte Luck of Roaring Camp 31 Again from leaden skies the snow-flakes were sifted over the land.
7. intransitive. To use a sieve; to do sifting. Chiefly figurative, esp. to pry into, make inquiry.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > examine closely [verb (intransitive)]
ransackc1405
sift1535
to bolt all the flour1590
scrutine1592
profound1643
scrutinize1699
probe1878
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > embezzlement or misappropriation > embezzle or misappropriate [verb (intransitive)] > small coins
sift1874
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Amos ix. B Like as they vse to sifte in a syue.
1600 R. Greene Neuer too Late (new ed.) ii. sig. L2 I hope this proffer is but a tryall..to sifte at my secret intent.
a1625 J. Fletcher Noble Gentleman v. iii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ee4/1 Although he put his nobles in disguise..to sift into my words.
1641 J. Milton Animadversions 22 You sifted not so clean before, but you shuffle as foulely now.
1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 287 I will not sift into them too minutely.
1779 F. Burney Diary & Lett. (1842) I. 297 He has desired me to sift for what room you have, and to sound as to convenience.
1874 Hotten's Slang Dict. (rev. ed.) 290 Sift, to embezzle small coins, those which might pass through a sieve—as threepennies and fourpennies—and which are, therefore, not likely to be missed.
8. To pass or fall as through a sieve.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement over, across, through, or past > [verb (intransitive)] > through > pass as through a sieve
sift1599
sieve1851
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > fall [verb (intransitive)] > drop or fall vertically > as from a sieve
sift1599
1599 A. M. tr. O. Gaebelkhover Bk. Physicke 2/2 Madefye it with Rosewater least that it fal on a heap and sift throughe.
1855 H. W. Longfellow Hiawatha ii. 27 He it was who sent the snow-flakes, Sifting, hissing through the forest.
1869 A. J. Evans Vashti xxxiv. 466 Golden leaves were sifting down on the marble floor.
1893 Scribner's Mag. Sept. 305/1 The April sunshine sifts in through an open window.
Derivatives
ˈsiftage n. rare. sifted matter.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > sifting > [noun] > sifted matter
sift1876
siftage1881
1881 R. D. Blackmore Christowell (1882) vii At this he worked hard,..pulling asunder the fibrous clods, but not reducing them to siftage.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1499
v.c725