1. to put (flour, powder, etc.) through a sieve to remove lumps or large pieces
2. to examine something carefully in order to find something or to separate what is useful from what is not useful

Examples

• Sift the flour before adding it to the mixture.
• She sifted powdered sugar over the cake.
• The detective sifted through the evidence looking for clues.
• We need to sift the facts from the rumors.
• The archaeologists sifted sand to find ancient artifacts.
• He sifted through hundreds of job applications.
• Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.