sort out
verb7 senses
1
To clarify by reviewing mentally.
- It's a bit confused at the moment, I'll try to sort it out later.
2
To arrange.
- Could you call Dave and sort out a meeting for tomorrow?
3
To fix (a problem).
- The computer won't let me delete that file; could you sort it out?
4
To organise or separate into groups, as a collection of items, so as to make tidy.
- Could you sort out your wardrobe and put the clothes you no longer use in one pile to give away and another to throw away?
5
To separate from the remainder of a group; often construed with from.
- We need to sort out the problems we can solve from the ones we can't.
- They've already sorted out the students in group A, so we just need to worry about groups B and C.
6
UK, Slang To take action to stop someone who has been causing trouble, often by physically attacking them.
- If you do that again, I'll soon sort you out.
- Most of the babies and kids would be put to bed by one of the adults and left on their own. Every half an hour a bluecoat would walk around the aisles and if they heard crying from your chalet they would put your block and chalet number on a board to the right of the stage. The first few times I went to a proper church and saw the hymn order to the side of the pulpit I wondered why nobody was going to sort out those kids.2016, Jon Bounds, Danny Smith, Pier Review: A Road Trip in Search of the Great British Seaside:
- Hey man, I want some weed. —I'll sort you out, mate.
- We really need to sort Chris out with a girlfriend.
- Derived terms
- sort oneself out