filter
noun
fil·ter
| \ ˈfil-tər
\
\
Definition of filter
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a
: a porous article or mass (as of paper or sand) through which a gas or liquid is passed to separate out matter in suspension
b
: an apparatus containing a filter medium
2a
: a device or material for suppressing or minimizing waves or oscillations of certain frequencies (as of electricity, light, or sound)
b
: a transparent material (such as colored glass) that absorbs light of certain wavelengths or colors selectively and is used for modifying light that reaches a sensitized photographic material
— called also color filter
3
: something that has the effect of a filter (as by holding back elements or modifying the appearance of something)
his work is too often viewed through the filter of race— Brent Staples
4
: software for sorting or blocking access to certain online material
filter
verb
filtered;
filtering\ ˈfil-t(ə-)riŋ
\
\
Definition of filter (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: to pass or move through or as if through a filter
2
: to come or go in small units over a period of time
people began filtering in
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Examples of filter in a Sentence
Noun
She smokes cigarettes with filters. He placed a red filter on the camera lens. digital filters that stop high-frequency soundsVerb
They've begun filtering their water to remove impurities. a device that filters impurities from water sunglasses that filter ultraviolet light Sunlight filtered through the leaves. His ideas have filtered down to his children. The crowd filtered into the arena. Early election returns have begun to filter in.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
The color is desaturated and full of contrast, cast in an eerie turquoise pall, as if through a murky Instagram filter. — Katie Walsh, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Review: ‘Ready or Not’ sacrifices horror for irony and laughs to skewer the 1 percent," 22 Aug. 2019 The color is desaturated and full of contrast, cast in an eerie turquoise pall, as if through a murky Instagram filter. — Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, "1-percenter slasher flick ‘Ready or Not’ too sardonic to be taken seriously as satire," 20 Aug. 2019 The color is desaturated and full of contrast, cast in an eerie turquoise pall, as if through a murky Instagram filter. — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, "Review: ‘Ready or Not’ sacrifices horror for irony and laughs to skewer the 1 percent," 19 Aug. 2019 But there’s so much more than H2O in that small plastic bottle. Dr. Stoeckle pours the fluid through a special filter atop a glass contraption that looks a bit like a pour-over coffee maker. — Amanda Paulson, The Christian Science Monitor, "Message in a bottle: Forensics meets marine science with eDNA," 15 Aug. 2019 This year’s MLB Players’ Weekend jerseys will show the world through a black and white filter. — Paul Lukas, SI.com, "Welcome to the Uni-Verse: Explore the World of Athletics Aesthetics with Uni Watch," 13 Aug. 2019 Yellow filters on my lenses and dive mask block the stimulating blue light, enabling me to see and capture the full extent of the psychedelic spectacle. — Smithsonian, "Amazing Photos Reveal the Hidden Light of Undersea Life," 25 July 2019 The light filters through the streets like a stream through reeds. — Anne Farrar, National Geographic, "Here’s why everyone is going to Portugal now," 18 June 2019 Favorite Instagram filters: Clarendon, Valencia, X-Pro II. — WSJ, "Busy Philipps Reveals What’s on Her iPhone," 10 Oct. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
The new power plant does not require ocean water cooling, but the lagoon will continue to be dredged by the owners of the Carlsbad desalination plant, which filters water from the lagoon for tap water distributed countywide. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Man pushes preservation of 400-foot-tall coastal smokestack," 8 Sep. 2019 Tom Robertson While fairgoers filtered in and out of the Green Gate entrance, Tom Robertson was busy carving. — Samantha Davenport, Anchorage Daily News, "Daredevils, funnel cake, bonsai: Scenes from the Alaska State Fair," 29 Aug. 2019 Once the match had finished and supporters had filtered out of the stadium, Red Star's squad hopped in the military vehicle and paraded it through Belgrade. — SI.com, "Red Star Belgrade Players Ride Army Tank During Wild Celebrations After Champions League Win," 29 Aug. 2019 The underlying message is that human involvement could risk biases or subjectivity, so critical projects like filtering out hate speech must have at least minor human involvement. — Sidney Fussell, The Atlantic, "Facebook Wants You to Focus on the Humans," 22 Aug. 2019 Some filtered their water samples down to micron-scale particles, others included particles 100 times bigger than that. — Matt Simon, WIRED, "You’ve Been Drinking Microplastics, But Don’t Worry—Yet," 21 Aug. 2019 British psychologist Sir Frederic Bartlett realised in the early 20th century that these errors typically reflect a person’s beliefs about missing or uncertain information filtering into the original message. — Simon Cropper, Quartz, "Why do different cultures see such similar meanings in the stars?," 21 Aug. 2019 The city of Newark released a fact sheet on August 16 that said recent tests showed water filters provided by the city government in two homes might not be completely effective in filtering out lead levels in the city's water. — Katie Ross Dominick, CBS News, "2020 Daily Trail Markers: Democratic Senate campaign arm raises $4.8 million in July," 20 Aug. 2019 Due to this, Sarah's kidneys often grow cysts, which can disrupt her kidneys from doing their job, filtering waste from the blood. — Jasmine Gomez, Seventeen, "Fans That Watched the 'Teen Choice Awards' Want to Know if 'Modern Family' Star Sarah Hyland is Pregnant," 14 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'filter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for filter
filter
noun
English Language Learners Definition of filter
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a device that is used to remove something unwanted from a liquid or gas that passes through it
: a device that prevents some kinds of light, sound, electronic noises, etc., from passing through
computers
: software that prevents someone from looking at or receiving particular kinds of material through the Internet
filter
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of filter (Entry 2 of 2)
: to pass (something, such as a gas or liquid) through a filter to remove something unwanted
: to remove (something unwanted) by using a filter
: to move through or into something in small amounts or in a gradual way
See the full definition for filter in the English Language Learners Dictionary
filter
noun
fil·ter
| \ ˈfil-tər
\
\
Kids Definition of filter
(Entry 1 of 2)