A group of persons or things of the same general character; a kind.
Character or nature: books of all sorts.
One that exemplifies the characteristics of or serves a similar function to another: "A large dinner-party ... made a sort of general introduction for her to the society of the neighbourhood” ( George Eliot).
A person; an individual: The clerk is a decent sort.
A way of acting or behaving.
Printing One of the characters in a font of type.
An act or instance of sorting: did a sort on the columns of data.
To arrange according to class, kind, or size; classify. See Synonyms at arrange.
To separate from others: sort out the wheat from the chaff.
To clarify by going over mentally: She tried to sort out her problems.
after a sort In a haphazard or imperfect way: managed to paint the chair after a sort.
sorts Of a mediocre or inferior kind: a constitutional government of a sort.
sorts Of one kind or another: knew many folktales of sorts.
out of sorts Slightly ill.
out of sorts Irritable; cross: The teacher is out of sorts this morning.
sort of Informal Somewhat; rather: "Gambling and prostitution . . . have been prohibited, but only sort of” ( George F. Will).