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View synonyms for

sort

[sawrt]

noun

  1. a particular kind, species, variety, class, or group, distinguished by a common character or nature.

    to develop a new sort of painting;

    nice people, of course, but not really our sort.

    Synonyms: , , , , ,
  2. character, quality, or nature.

    young people of a nice sort.

  3. an example of something that is undistinguished or barely adequate.

    He is a sort of poet.

  4. manner, fashion, or way.

    We spoke in this sort for several minutes.

  5. Printing.

    1. any of the individual characters making up a font of type.

    2. characters of a particular font that are rarely used.

  6. an instance of sorting.



verb (used with object)

  1. to arrange according to sort, kind, or class; separate into sorts; classify.

    to sort socks;

    to sort eggs by grade.

  2. to separate or take from other sorts or from others (often followed byout ): to sort out the children's socks.

    to sort the good from the bad;

    to sort out the children's socks.

  3. to assign to a particular class, group, or place (often followed by with, together, etc.).

    to sort people together indiscriminately.

  4. Scot.to provide with food and shelter.

  5. Computers.to place (records) in order, as numerical or alphabetical, based on the contents of one or more keys contained in each record.

verb (used without object)

  1. Archaic.to suit; agree; fit.

  2. British Dialect.to associate, mingle, or be friendly.

verb phrase

    1. to evolve; develop; turn out.

      We'll just have to wait and see how things sort out.

    2. to put in order; clarify.

      After I sort things out here, I'll be able to concentrate on your problem.

sort

/ ɔː /

noun

  1. a class, group, kind, etc, as distinguished by some common quality or characteristic

  2. informaltype of character, nature, etc

    he's a good sort

  3. a more or less definable or adequate example

    it's a sort of review

  4. (often plural) printing any of the individual characters making up a fount of type

  5. archaicmanner; way

    in this sort we struggled home

  6. to some extent

    1. of an inferior kind

    2. of an indefinite kind

  7. not in normal good health, temper, etc

  8. informal

    1. (adverb) in some way or other; as it were; rather

    2. (sentence substitute) used to express reservation or qualified assent

      I’m only joking. Sort of

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to arrange according to class, type, etc

  2. (tr) to put (something) into working order

  3. (tr) to arrange (computer information) by machine in an order convenient to the computer user

  4. informalto supply, esp with drugs

  5. archaic(intr; foll by with, together, etc) to associate, as on friendly terms

  6. archaic(intr) to agree; accord

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Usage

See kind 2.
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Other Word Forms

  • sortable adjective
  • sortably adverb
  • sorter noun
  • missort verb
  • subsort verb
  • subsorter noun
  • undersort verb (used with object)
  • unsort verb (used with object)
  • unsortable adjective
  • ˈǰٲ adjective
  • ˈǰٱ noun
  • ˈǰٲ adverb
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sort1

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English noun, from Middle French sorte, from Medieval Latin sort- (stem of sors ) “kind, allotted status or portion, lot,” Latin: originally, “lot (for voting)”; Middle English verb sorten “to allot, arrange, assort,” from Middle French sortir or directly from Latin ǰīī “to draw lots,” derivative of sors; later senses influenced by the noun and by assort
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sort1

C14: from Old French, from Medieval Latin sors kind, from Latin: fate
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. out of sorts,

    1. in low spirits; depressed.

    2. in poor health; indisposed; ill.

    3. in a bad temper; irritable.

      to be out of sorts because of the weather.

    4. Printing. short of certain characters of a font of type.

  2. of sorts, Also of a sort

    1. of a mediocre or poor kind.

      a tennis player of sorts.

    2. of one sort or another; of an indefinite kind.

  3. sort of, in a way; somewhat; rather.

    Their conversation was sort of tiresome.

see after a fashion (sort); all kinds (sorts) of; bad sort; it takes all sorts; kind (sort) of; nothing of the kind (sort); of sorts; out of sorts.
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

"We just have to polish the fact that sometimes you sort of have to accept that you can't always go 100%, especially when a little mistake can be so costly."

From

“I didn’t think I would be met with any sort of no, especially because we’re in LA and with everything happening,” she said.

From

Watson, who rode her bike to and from the site each day, said the tournament had "sort of Wimbledon vibes" because of the history.

From

"It's a feeling of helplessness, emptiness, normally if something goes wrong, we can sort things out but this has been very difficult."

From

Whilst most UK security guards work in shops and other businesses, his data does also signal a rise in the sort of residential work carried out by private firms, he says.

From

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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