sort out
Definition
- Verb (transitive):
- To resolve a problem or difficult situation: To find a solution to something that is causing trouble or confusion.
- To organize or arrange things systematically: To put things into a proper order or into categories.
- To make something clear or understandable: To remove confusion or ambiguity from a situation or statement.
- (Informal, chiefly British) To deal with or reprimand someone: To punish or correct someone in order to enforce obedience or control.
Examples of Usage
- Verb:
- We need to sort out the billing error with the bank. (We need to resolve the billing error.)
- She spent the morning sorting out her old photographs into albums. (She spent the morning organizing her photographs.)
- Let me sort out what I mean; it's more complicated than it sounds. (Let me make clear what I mean.)
- If those kids don't behave, I'll sort them out! (I will deal with or reprimand those kids.)
Advanced Usage
- "to sort oneself out": To resolve one's own personal problems or get one's life in order.
- After the divorce, he took some time off to sort himself out.
- "to sort something out from something": To separate or distinguish one thing from a group.
- It's hard to sort out the genuine antiques from the replicas.
Variants and Related Words
- Sort (verb/noun): To arrange systematically; a category or type.
- Sort the files by date.
- Sorter (noun): A person or machine that sorts things.
- Outsort (not a standard variant; "sort out" is a phrasal verb).
Synonyms
- Resolve: To find a solution to a problem.
- Organize: To arrange in a structured order.
- Clarify: To make a statement or situation clear.
- Discipline: To train someone to obey rules or a code of behavior.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Sort through: To examine a collection of items carefully to organize or find something.
- We had to sort through decades of paperwork.
- Haven't got something sorted out: (Informal) To not have finalized or resolved something.
- We still haven't got the travel plans sorted out.
Related Idioms
- Sort out the men from the boys: To distinguish the experienced, capable people from the inexperienced ones.
- This crisis will really sort out the men from the boys.
- Sort out the wheat from the chaff: To separate valuable people or things from worthless ones.
- The audition process is designed to sort out the wheat from the chaff.
Verb
-
punish in order to gain control or enforce obedience
-
The teacher disciplined the pupils rather frequently
-
-
make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear
-
Could you clarify these remarks?
-
Clear up the question of who is at fault
-
-
arrange or order by classes or categories
-
How would you classify these pottery shards--are they prehistoric?
-
