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sort

Syllabification: (sort)
Pronunciation: /sôrt/
Translate sort | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of sort

noun

  • 1a category of things or people having some common feature; a type:if only we knew the sort of people she was mixing with a radical change poses all sorts of questions
  • [with adjective] informal a person of a specified character or nature:Frank was a genuinely friendly sort
  • archaic a manner or way:in law also the judge is in a sort superior to his king
  • 2 Computing the arrangement of data in a prescribed sequence.
  • 3 Printing a letter or piece in a font of type.

verb

[with object]
  • 1arrange systematically in groups; separate according to type, class, etc.:she sorted out the clothes, some to be kept, some to be thrown away
  • (sort through) look at (a group of things) one after another in order to classify them or make a selection:she sat down and sorted through her mail
  • 2resolve (a problem or difficulty):the teacher helps the children to sort out their problems
  • resolve the problems or difficulties of (oneself):I need time to sort myself out

Phrases

after a sort

dated after a fashion.

in some sort

to a certain extent:I am in some sort indebted to you

nothing of the sort

used as an emphatic way of denying permission or refuting an earlier statement or assumption:“I’ll pay.” “You’ll do nothing of the sort.”

of a sort

(or of sorts)
informal of an atypical and typically inferior type:the training camp actually became a tourist attraction of sorts

out of sorts

slightly unwell:feeling nauseous and generally out of sorts
in low spirits; irritable:the trying events of the day had put him out of sorts

sort of

informal to some extent; in some way or other (used to convey inexactness or vagueness):“Do you see what I mean?” “Sort of,” answered Jean cautiously

the —— sort

the kind of person likely to do or be involved with the thing specified:she’d never imagined Steve to be the marrying sort

Phrasal Verbs

sort someone out

informal deal with someone who is causing trouble, typically by restraining, reprimanding, or punishing them:if he can’t pay you, I’ll sort him out

sort something out

  • 1separate something from a mixed group:she started sorting out the lettuce from the spinach
  • 2arrange or organize something:they are anxious to sort out traveling arrangements

Derivatives

sortable

adjective

sorter

noun

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French sorte, from an alteration of Latin sors, sort- 'lot, condition'

The construction these sort of, as in I don’t want to answer these sort of questions, is technically ungrammatical because these is plural and needs to agree with a plural noun (sorts). The construction is undoubtedly common, however, and has been used for hundreds of years. There are some grammarians who analyze the construction differently, seeing the words "these sort of" as a single invariable unit. For more details, see kind1 (usage).

sort in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of sort in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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