Definition of "sort of"

"Why—why, we sort of expected he'd be here!" says she.

1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post‎

Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company

‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War. […]’

1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess‎

Anne Shaw tells Peter Plisner, "West Midlands Metro metamorphosis", page 32:"It sort of transforms that location," says Shaw.Pip Dunn, "'196s' giving commuters a smoother ride", page 55:Messy trains are horrible, but you can sort of understand passengers leaving their sandwich wrappers and paper cups if there is nowhere to dispose of them.

2023 April 5, RAIL, number 980