Sieve Meaning
/sɪv/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA device with a mesh, grate, or otherwise perforated bottom to separate, in a granular material, larger particles from smaller ones, or to separate solid objects from a liquid.
nounA process, physical or abstract, that arrives at a final result by filtering out unwanted pieces of input from a larger starting set of input.
Sentence Examples
I have a memory like a sieve.
Water runs through a paper towel as if it were a sieve.
The walls of the small intestine are like a sieve.
CEFR Practice Quiz
To remove lumps from the flour, the baker passed it through a fine ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I used a fine mesh ____ to remove any lumps from the flour before mixing it into the cake batter.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English sive, syfe, from Old English sife, from Proto-West Germanic *sibi (“sieve”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyp-, *seyb- (“to pour, sieve, strain, run, drip”). Akin to German Sieb, Dutch zeef, Proto-Slavic *sito (Russian си́то (síto), сев (sev), се́ять (séjatʹ)).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Among, ^([sic]) his other achievements, Matiyasevich and his colleague Boris Stechkin also developed an interesting “visual sieve” for prime numbers, which effectively “crosses out” all the composite numbers, leaving only the primes."
— 2010, Luke Mastin, “20TH CENTURY MATHEMATICS - ROBINSON AND MATIYASEVICH”, in www.storyofmathematics.com, retrieved 08 Sep 2013:
"To be a sieve was to lack clinical judgment, courage, and group loyalty all at once."
— 1997, Leo Galland, The Four Pillars of Healing, page 25:
"Serpulorbis grandis feeds on plankton that it seives ^([sic]) from the water like a clam does."
— 2001, Julian Sprung, Invertebrates: A Quick Reference Guide, page 111:
"This was their seventh defeat out of nine finals, including five in a row, and the second half was a chastening experience for the Serie A champions, culminating in them sieving more goals in one match than in the rest of the competition put together."
— 2017 June 3, Daniel Taylor, “Real Madrid win Champions League as Cristiano Ronaldo double defeats Juve”, in The Guardian (London):
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
To remove lumps from the flour, the baker passed it through a fine ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I used a fine mesh ____ to remove any lumps from the flour before mixing it into the cake batter.