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A Writer's Dictionary:

out of sorts Definition


Dictionary Home » Words Starting with O » out of one's depth ... outjockeying » out of sorts


sort
noun
    1. A kind, type or class.
      Thesaurus: brand, category, class, breed, family, genre, genus, kind, species, type, variety.
    2. colloq
      A person.
      Example: not a bad sort
verb sorted, sorting
    1. To arrange into different groups according to some specified criterion.
      Thesaurus: order, arrange, catalogue, file, systematize, assort, distribute, select.
    2. colloq
      To fix something or put it back into working order.
      Example: tried to sort the car himself
    3. colloq
      To deal with something, especially violently as a punishment.
Derivative: sortable
adj
    Derivative: sorter
    noun
      Derivative: sorting
      noun, adj
        Idiom: a sort of ...
          A thing like a ....
            Example: a cafetière ― you know, a sort of pot for making coffee
        Idiom: of a sort (of sorts)
          Of an inferior or untypical kind.
            Example: an author of a sort
        Idiom: nothing of the sort
          No such thing.
            Example: I did nothing of the sort
        Idiom: out of sorts
          Slightly unwell.
            Thesaurus: ill, ailing, under the weather.
          Peevish; bad-tempered.
            Thesaurus: irritated, upset, angry, troubled, in a bad mood, sullen, grouchy, grumpy, cross.
        Idiom: sort of
          colloq
          Rather; in a way; to a certain extent.
            Example: feeling sort of embarrassed
        Etymology: 13c: French, from Latin sors, sortis a lot, from sortiri to divide or obtain by lots.

        Phrasal Verb: sort someone out
          To deal with them firmly and decisively and sometimes violently.To put them right.
            Example: A good night's sleep will soon sort you out
        Phrasal Verb: sort something out
          To separate things out from a mixed collection into a group or groups according to their kind.To put things into order; to arrange them systematically or methodically.
            Example: sort out your priorities
          To resolve it.
        Info:
          ○ Like kind, sort gives rise to a usage difficulty when it is followed by of with a plural noun and needs to be preceded by a demonstrative pronoun this, that, these, those. The grammatical sequences in use are as follows:
          ?
          ○ The first is sometimes rejected by language purists, but it is common especially in speech.


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