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hand sorting


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WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
sort /sɔrt/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. a particular kind, class, or group;
    type:There are many sorts of people.
  2. character, quality, or nature:friends of a nice sort.
  3. an example of something undistinguished;
    a type of:He is a sort of poet.
  4. an instance of sorting:The computer can perform a fast sort on all the entries in your database.
  5. a person (when referring to his or her character):With all his faults, he's not a bad sort.

v. 
  1. to arrange or separate according to kind or class:[~ + object]to sort socks into matching pairs.
  2. Computingto place (a group of mixed objects, data, etc.) in order, as by number or alphabetical sequence: [~ + object]The computer is sorting the database now.[~ + through + object]to sort through the database.
  3. sort out:
    • [no object] to evolve;
      turn out;
      result:Wait and see how things sort out.
    • to put in order;
      clarify: [~ + object + out]trying to sort things out at home.[~ + out + object]to sort out one's problems.
Idioms
  1. Idioms of sorts:
    • of a mediocre or poor kind:a tennis player of sorts.Also, of a sort. 
  2. Idioms out of sorts:
    • annoyed, irritable, or depressed:feeling out of sorts.
    • sick;
      ill;
      indisposed.
  3. Informal Terms, Idioms sort of, somewhat;
    rather;
    kind of:The book was sort of interesting, wasn't it?

sort•er, n. [countable]See -sort-.

-sort-, root. 
    1. -sort- comes from Latin, where it has the meaning "kind;
      type;
      part.'' This meaning is found in such words as: consort, consortium, resort, sort.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
sort•ing  (sôr′ting),USA pronunciation n. [Geol.]
  1. Geologythe process by which sedimentary particles become separated according to some particular characteristic, as size or shape.
  • sort + -ing1

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
sort  (sôrt),USA pronunciation n. 
  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.
  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
    • any of the individual characters making up a font of type.
    • Printingcharacters of a particular font that are rarely used.
  6. an instance of sorting.
  7. of sorts:
    • of a mediocre or poor kind:a tennis player of sorts.
    • of one sort or another;
      of an indefinite kind. Also, of a sort. 
  8. out of sorts:
    • in low spirits;
      depressed.
    • in poor health;
      indisposed;
      ill.
    • in a bad temper;
      irritable:to be out of sorts because of the weather.
    • Printingshort of certain characters of a font of type.
  9. Informal Terms sort of, in a way;
    somewhat;
    rather:Their conversation was sort of tiresome.

v.t. 
  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 fol. by out):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 fol. by with, together, etc.):to sort people together indiscriminately.
  4. Scottish Termsto provide with food and shelter.
  5. Computingto place (records) in order, as numerical or alphabetical, based on the contents of one or more keys contained in each record. Cf. key 1 (def. 19).

v.i. 
  1. [Archaic.]to suit;
    agree;
    fit.
  2. British Termsto associate, mingle, or be friendly.
  3. sort out:
    • evolve;
      develop;
      turn out:We'll just have to wait and see how things sort out.
    • to put in order;
      clarify:After I sort things out here, I'll be able to concentrate on your problem.
  • Latin sortīrī to draw lots, derivative of sors; later senses influenced by the noun, nominal and by assort
  • Middle French sortir)
  • Medieval Latin sort- (stem of sors) kind, allotted status or portion, lot, Latin: origin, originally, voter's lot; (verb, verbal) Middle English sorten to allot, arrange, assort (
  • Middle French sorte
  • (noun, nominal) Middle English 1200–50
sort′a•ble, adj. 
sort′a•bly, adv. 
sort′er, n. 
    • 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged family, order, race, rank, character, nature.
    See kind 2.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
sort / sɔːt/
  1. a class, group, kind, etc, as distinguished by some common quality or characteristic
  2. type 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) any of the individual characters making up a fount of type
  5. manner; way: in this sort we struggled home
  6. after a sort ⇒ to some extent
  7. of sorts, of a sort ⇒ of an inferior kind
  8. of an indefinite kind
  9. out of sorts ⇒ not in normal good health, temper, etc
  10. sort of ⇒ (adverb) in some way or other; as it were; rather
  1. (transitive) to arrange according to class, type, etc
  2. (transitive) to put (something) into working order
  3. (transitive) to arrange (computer information) by machine in an order convenient to the computer user
  4. (intransitive) to agree; accord
Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French, from Medieval Latin sors kind, from Latin: fateˈsortableˈsorterUSAGE
kind2

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