sieve

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Related to sieve: sieve out

sieve

(sĭv)

A utensil of wire mesh or closely perforated metal or plastic, used for straining, sifting, ricing, or puréeing.

v. sieved, siev·ing, sieves

v.tr.

To pass through a sieve.

v.intr.

To use a sieve; sift.

[Middle English sive, from Old English sife.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sieve

(sɪv)

1. (Tools) 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 head like a sieve a very poor memory

4. to pass or cause to pass through a sieve

5. (often foll by: out) to separate or remove (lumps, materials, etc) by use of a sieve

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

ˈsieveˌlike adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sieve

(sɪv)

n., v. sieved, siev•ing. n.

1. a utensil with a meshed or perforated surface, used for separating coarse from fine parts of loose matter, for straining liquids, etc.

v.t., v.i.

2. to put or force through a sieve.

[before 900; Middle English sive, Old English sife, c. Middle Low German, Middle Dutch seve, Old High German sib, sip]

sieve

Past participle: sieved
Gerund: sieving

Imperative
sieve
sieve

Present
I sieve
you sieve
he/she/it sieves
we sieve
you sieve
they sieve

Preterite
I sieved
you sieved
he/she/it sieved
we sieved
you sieved
they sieved

Present Continuous
I am sieving
you are sieving
he/she/it is sieving
we are sieving
you are sieving
they are sieving

Present Perfect
I have sieved
you have sieved
he/she/it has sieved
we have sieved
you have sieved
they have sieved

Past Continuous
I was sieving
you were sieving
he/she/it was sieving
we were sieving
you were sieving
they were sieving

Past Perfect
I had sieved
you had sieved
he/she/it had sieved
we had sieved
you had sieved
they had sieved

Future
I will sieve
you will sieve
he/she/it will sieve
we will sieve
you will sieve
they will sieve

Future Perfect
I will have sieved
you will have sieved
he/she/it will have sieved
we will have sieved
you will have sieved
they will have sieved

Future Continuous
I will be sieving
you will be sieving
he/she/it will be sieving
we will be sieving
you will be sieving
they will be sieving

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been sieving
you have been sieving
he/she/it has been sieving
we have been sieving
you have been sieving
they have been sieving

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been sieving
you will have been sieving
he/she/it will have been sieving
we will have been sieving
you will have been sieving
they will have been sieving

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been sieving
you had been sieving
he/she/it had been sieving
we had been sieving
you had been sieving
they had been sieving

Conditional
I would sieve
you would sieve
he/she/it would sieve
we would sieve
you would sieve
they would sieve

Past Conditional
I would have sieved
you would have sieved
he/she/it would have sieved
we would have sieved
you would have sieved
they would have sieved

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	sieve - a strainer for separating lumps from powdered material or grading particles screen riddle - a coarse sieve (as for gravel) sifter - a household sieve (as for flour) strainer - a filter to retain larger pieces while smaller pieces and liquids pass through
Verb	1.	sieve - examine in order to test suitability; "screen these samples"; "screen the job applicants" screen out, sort, screen choose, pick out, select, take - pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives; "Take any one of these cards"; "Choose a good husband for your daughter"; "She selected a pair of shoes from among the dozen the salesgirl had shown her"
	2.	sieve - check and sort carefully; "sift the information" sift analyse, analyze, examine, study, canvass, canvas - consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning; "analyze a sonnet by Shakespeare"; "analyze the evidence in a criminal trial"; "analyze your real motives"
	3.	sieve - separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements; "sift the flour" sift, strain separate - divide into components or constituents; "Separate the wheat from the chaff" rice - sieve so that it becomes the consistency of rice; "rice the potatoes" resift - sift anew riddle, screen - separate with a riddle, as grain from chaff winnow, fan - separate the chaff from by using air currents; "She stood there winnowing chaff all day in the field" pick over, sieve out - separate or remove; "The customer picked over the selection"
	4.	sieve - distinguish and separate out; "sift through the job candidates" sift choose, pick out, select, take - pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives; "Take any one of these cards"; "Choose a good husband for your daughter"; "She selected a pair of shoes from among the dozen the salesgirl had shown her"

sieve

noun

1. strainer, sifter, colander, screen, riddle, tammy cloth Press the raspberries through a fine sieve to form a puree.

verb

1. sift, part, filter, strain, separate, pan, bolt, riddle Sieve the icing sugar into the bowl.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

مُنْخُليُنَخِّل، يُغَرْبِل

sítoceditcedníkprosít

sisigte

Sieb sieben abseihen

κόσκινο σουρωτήρι

colador tamiz

siiviläsiivilöidäseulaseuloa

tamis passoire tamiser crible

נפה

sitorešeto

szitaszűrőátpaszírozrosta

sigtasigti

setaccio setacciare

ふるい

체

rėtissietassijoti

sietssijāt

sito

sållsållningsil

กระชอน

elek süzgeç süzmekelemek

cái rây

滤滤网筛筛子细筛

sieve

[sɪv]

A. N (for liquids) → colador m; (for solids) → criba f, tamiz m

B. VT [+ liquid] → colar; [+ flour, soil] → cribar, tamizar

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sieve

[ˈsɪv]

n (for sifting, draining) → tamis m, passoire f

vt → tamiser, passer (au tamis)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

sieve

n → Sieb nt; to have a memory or brain like a sieve (inf) → ein Gedächtnis wie ein Sieb haben (inf)

vt = sift VT a

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sieve

[sɪv]

1. n (for flour) → setaccio; (for coal, soil) → crivello
to have a memory like a sieve (fam) → avere una memoria che fa acqua, essere smemorato/a

2. vt (soil, flour) → setacciare, passare al setaccio; (coal) → passare al crivello

sieve

(siv) noun

a container with a bottom full of very small holes, used to separate liquids from solids or small, fine pieces from larger ones etc. He poured the soup through a sieve to remove all the lumps.

verb

to pass (something) through a sieve.

sieve

→ مُنْخُل síto si Sieb κόσκινο colador, tamiz siivilä tamis sito setaccio ふるい 체 zeef sil sito peneira сито sil กระชอน elek cái rây 筛子

sieve

n. colador;

v. colar, pasar por un tamiz.

sieve

n (for urine) colador m

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

And, so saying, she set the girl down to spin yarn, and she gave the boy a sieve in which to carry water from the well, and she herself went out into the wood.

View in context

"Except me," said a sieve. "I'm the whole thing when it comes to holes."

View in context

"At last, just as the sun went down, I saw the old master come out with a sieve in his hand.

View in context

The proper season is when the weather is very dry; the special days are those when the moon is in the constellations of the Sieve, the Wall, the Wing or the Cross-bar; for these four are all days of rising wind.

View in context

Three days of labor with the spade and the sieve produced no results of the slightest importance.

View in context

He watched how Mishka strode along, swinging the huge clods of earth that clung to each foot; and getting off his horse, he took the sieve from Vassily and started sowing himself.

View in context

McGREGOR came up with a sieve, which he intended to pop upon the top of Peter; but Peter wriggled out just in time, leaving his jacket behind him.

View in context

But what is to be done if the direct and sole vocation of every intelligent man is babble, that is, the intentional pouring of water through a sieve?

View in context

True, there was a slight frost in the early morning, as though scattered through a sieve, but it was nothing, and the breeze soon freshened the air.

View in context

how happy we are, We live in a sieve and a crockery jar!

View in context

These papers are delivered to a set of artists, very dexterous in finding out the mysterious meanings of words, syllables, and letters: for instance, they can discover a close stool, to signify a privy council; a flock of geese, a senate; a lame dog, an invader; the plague, a standing army; a buzzard, a prime minister; the gout, a high priest; a gibbet, a secretary of state; a chamber pot, a committee of grandees; a sieve, a court lady; a broom, a revolution; a mouse-trap, an employment; a bottomless pit, a treasury; a sink, a court; a cap and bells, a favourite; a broken reed, a court of justice; an empty tun, a general; a running sore, the administration.

View in context

To give him money was like pouring water into a sieve. "Is your mind at ease," asked his doctor as he lay dying.