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Separate vs Sift - What's the difference?

separate | sift |

As verbs the difference between separate and sift

is that separate is to divide (a thing) into separate parts while sift is to sieve or strain (something).

As a adjective separate

is apart from (the rest); not connected to or attached to (anything else).

As a noun separate

is (usually|in the plural) anything that is sold by itself, especially an article of clothing.

separate

English

Adjective

(-)
  • Apart from (the rest); not connected to or attached to (anything else).
  • This chair can be disassembled into five separate pieces.
  • Not together (with); not united (to).
  • I try to keep my personal life separate from work.

    Verb

    (separat)
  • To divide (a thing) into separate parts.
  • To disunite something from one thing; To disconnect.
  • * Dryden
  • From the fine gold I separate the alloy.
  • * Bible, Romans viii. 35
  • Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
  • To cause (things or people) to be separate.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Fantasy of navigation , passage=It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […];  […]; or perhaps to muse on the irrelevance of the borders that separate nation states and keep people from understanding their shared environment.}}
  • To divide itself into separate pieces or substances.
  • (obsolete) To set apart; to select from among others, as for a special use or service.
  • * Bible, Acts xiii. 2
  • Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

    Derived terms

    * separable * separately * separation * separational * separationism * separationist

    Antonyms

    * annex * combine

    See also

    * disunite * disconnect * divide * split * reduce * subtract

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (usually, in the plural) Anything that is sold by itself, especially an article of clothing.
  • Usage notes

    * The spelling is (separate). *(term) is a common misspelling.

    sift

    English

    Verb

  • To sieve or strain (something).
  • To separate or scatter (things) as if by sieving.
  • To examine (something) carefully.
  • * 1748 . David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 28.
  • But if we still carry on our sifting humour, and ask, What is the foundation of all conclusions from experience ? this implies a new question.
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year=1764 , author= , title= , pageurl=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/696/696-h/696-h.htm , page= , publisher=}}
    It immediately occurred to him to sift her on the subject of Isabella and Theodore.

    Derived terms

    * sifter

    Anagrams

    * *