sieve

[ siv ]

noun

1. an instrument with a meshed or perforated bottom, used for separating coarse from fine parts of loose matter, for straining liquids, etc., especially one with a circular frame and fine meshes or perforations.
2. a person who cannot keep a secret.

verb (used with or without object)

, sieved, siev·ing.

1. to put or force through a sieve; sift.

sieve

/ sɪv /

noun

1. a device for separating lumps from powdered material, straining liquids, grading particles, etc, consisting of a container with a mesh or perforated bottom through which the material is shaken or poured
2. rare.
   a person who gossips and spreads secrets
3. memory like a sieve or head like a sieve
   a very poor memory

verb

1. to pass or cause to pass through a sieve
2. troften foll byout to separate or remove (lumps, materials, etc) by use of a sieve

Derived Forms

• ˈsieveˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• sievelike adjective
• un·sieved adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sieve¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English sive, Old English sife; cognate with Dutch zeef, German Sieb; sift

Word History and Origins

Origin of sieve¹

Old English sife; related to Old Norse sef reed with hollow stalk, Old High German sib sieve, Dutch zeef

Example Sentences

Ladle the stock through a large cheesecloth-lined fine-mesh sieve set over a clean pot or large bowl.

From Washington Post

All these processes require filtering the raw data through a personal sieve, sculpted by the language and culture of our times.

From Nautilus

Yes, any old bowl or sieve could be used for these tasks, but this cheery set motivates me to cook and entices me to fill them up with new recipes, keeping pandemic cooking fatigue away.

From Eater

Gallinari and Bogdanović aren’t sieves, but they also aren’t the pieces a team would build a defense-first culture around.

From FiveThirtyEight

This simply means a purifier pushes air through a physical filter that catches airborne particles, in essentially the same way a sieve removes particles when you pour water through it.

From Fortune

Next to it, a car was perforated with bullet holes like a makeshift sieve.

From The Daily Beast

Press the mixture into a sieve with the back of the spoon to squeeze out the liquid then add 1tsp of honey.

From The Daily Beast

If you find your pumpkin to have too much water after you cook the flesh, strain it in a sieve or cheesecloth.

From The Daily Beast

Pass through a fine-meshed sieve, season with salt and pepper, and reserve, chilled.

From The Daily Beast

For years, Greece has been a sieve for irregular migrants who want to make their way to Europe.

From The Daily Beast

"I remember seeing an old broken sieve around the ranch house somewhere," Grace suggested helpfully.

From Project Gutenberg

In his brain the ideas performed their evolutions with the rapidity of hollow straws around a sieve.

From Project Gutenberg

Do you know what clays it sinks through, as if they were a sieve, and what stops it like an iron door?

From Project Gutenberg

Take some more tongue, pound and pass it through a sieve and mix it with the forcemeat.

From Project Gutenberg

Reduce and simmer till it is thick, then pass through a sieve, and take it off the fire before it boils.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• colander