English Language & Usage Asked on March 17, 2021
Can "filter for" be used in the following sense:
"ABC is very important as it filters for high quality and reliable results."
Filter for has been used as filter out:
"8. to act as a filter for; to slow or partially obstruct the passage of." (The Free Dictionary)
I am aware that filter on its own is ambiguous; see Sieve vs filter? Are they opposites?
This question is specifically about "filter for" and its second usage (where it’s followed by the desired state).
As per Lexico:
filter: Process or assess (items) in order to reject those that are unwanted. ‘you'll be put through to a secretary whose job it is to filter calls’
It's fine to say filter for with the understanding that the filter is removing low-quality and unreliable results, as noted by @JasonBassford. You might want to consider this slight rewrite of your example sentence:
ABC is very important filter for high quality and reliable results.
But again, this means that the filter rejects low-quality and unreliable results.
Answered by Richard Kayser on March 17, 2021
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