Anagram Solver

Definitions for Filter

[1] any substance, as cloth, paper, porous porcelain, or a layer of charcoal or sand, through which liquid or gas is passed to remove suspended impurities or to recover solids.
[2] any device, as a tank or tube, containing such a substance for filtering.
[3] any of various analogous devices, as for removing dust from air or impurities from tobacco smoke, or for eliminating certain kinds of light rays.
[4] something that works like a filter, as by removing, blocking, or separating out certain elements: Kids often talk without a filter. Events can be distorted through the filter of memory.
[5] Informal . a filter-tipped cigarette or cigar.
[6] Photography . a lens screen of dyed gelatin or glass for controlling the rendering of color or for diminishing the intensity of light.
[7] Electronics , Physics . a circuit or device that passes certain frequencies and blocks others.
[8] Mathematics . a collection of subsets of a topological space, having the properties that the intersection of two subsets in the collection is a subset in the collection and that any set containing a subset in the collection is in the collection.
[9] to remove by the action of a filter.
[10] to act as a filter for; to slow or partially obstruct the passage of: The thick leaves filtered the sunlight.
[11] to pass through or as through a filter.
[12] to pass or slip through slowly, as through an obstruction or a filter: Enemy agents managed to filter into the embattled country.
[13] a porous substance, such as paper or sand, that allows fluid to pass but retains suspended solid particles: used to clean fluids or collect solid particles
[14] any device containing such a porous substance for separating suspensions from fluids
[15] any of various porous substances built into the mouth end of a cigarette or cigar for absorbing impurities such as tar
[16] any electronic, optical, or acoustic device that blocks signals or radiations of certain frequencies while allowing others to pass See also band-pass filter
[17] any transparent disc of gelatine or glass used to eliminate or reduce the intensity of given frequencies from the light leaving a lamp, entering a camera, etc
[18] British a traffic signal at a road junction consisting of a green arrow which when illuminated permits vehicles to turn either left or right when the main signals are red
[19] (often foll by out) to remove or separate (suspended particles, wavelengths of radiation, etc) from (a liquid, gas, radiation, etc) by the action of a filter
[20] (tr) to obtain by filtering
[21] (intr foll by through ) to pass (through a filter or something like a filter) dust filtered through the screen
[22] (intr) to flow slowly; trickle

Words related to Filter

permeate, drain, clean, leak, winnow, sift, refine, percolate, penetrate, trickle, dribble, clarify, screen, purify, distill, strain, ooze, escape, sieve, exude

Words nearby Filter

filoselle, filosus, filovirus, fils, filt., filter, filter bed, filter bubble, filter cake, filter factor, filter feeder

Origin of Filter

1375–1425; late Middle English filtre < Medieval Latin filtrum “felt, piece of felt used to strain liquids” < Germanic; see felt2

Other words from Filter

fil·ter·er , noun
non·fil·ter , noun
o·ver·fil·ter , verb (used with object)
pre·fil·ter , noun
re·fil·ter , verb (used with object)
un·fil·ter·ing , adjective
well-fil·tered , adjective

Word origin for Filter

C16 filtre from Medieval Latin filtrum piece of felt used as a filter, of Germanic origin; see felt ²

Synonyms for Filter

clean, drain, dribble, leak, penetrate, percolate, permeate, refine, sift, trickle, winnow, clarify, distill, escape, exude, filtrate, metastasize, ooze, purify, screen, sieve, strain, osmose, soak through