sift
v.v. to put a substance through a tool with small holes to remove lumps. It also means to look through a lot of information very carefully to find what you need.
v. to pass a dry substance through a mesh or sieve to separate particles or remove impurities; by extension, to examine a large volume of data or evidence to isolate specific details.
You should sift the flour before adding it to the bowl.
Detectives had to sift through hundreds of hours of security footage to identify the suspect.
The research team spent months sifting through archival documents, hoping to find a single piece of evidence that would confirm their hypothesis.
From Middle English syften, from Old English siftan, from Proto-West Germanic *siftijan.
Often used with the preposition 'through' when referring to the examination of information or physical objects.
sift the informationsift through the informationWhen used to mean 'examine carefully', the verb usually requires the preposition 'through'.