Meaning & use

sifting

noun·Academic

The process of passing a substance through a sieve, or carefully examining material to find what matters.

See it in a sentence

Sifting the flour first kept the cake batter light and free of lumps.

After hours of sifting through old files, she finally found the missing contract.

A note on using this word

Sifting extends naturally from the kitchen to investigation, as in 'sifting through evidence' to separate relevant details from noise.

Words with a similar meaning

screeningfiltering

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

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