sieve
English · Thesaurus
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sieve
- /sɪv/
Sounds like civ · Rhymes with -ɪv
Where it comes from
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)).
noun sieves
- A 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. Near-synonyms: sifter, strainer, temse
- A kind of coarse basket.
- One of several techniques for counting integers. Given a list of consecutive numbers starting at 1, the Sieve of Eratosthenes algorithm will find all of the prime numbers.
- A collection of morphisms in a category whose codomain is a certain fixed object of that category, which collection is closed under precomposition by any morphism in the category.
- A person, or their mind, that cannot remember things or is unable to keep secrets.
- An intern who lets too many non-serious cases into the emergency room. To be a sieve was to lack clinical judgment, courage, and group loyalty all at once.
verb sieves · sieving · sieved
-
To strain, sift or sort using a sieve.
Serpulorbis grandis feeds on plankton that it seives ^([sic]) from the water like a clam does.
Similar: screen
- To concede; to let in. 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.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: screen out, sift, screen, sort, strain, sifting, strainer, filter, screening, basket, mesh, colander, dropper, canvas, riddled, round
Translations
Every language
noun device to separate larger objects from smaller ones or from liquids
| Español | cedazo, criba, cribo, tamiz, harnero, zaranda |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 체 che |
| 日本語 | 篩 furui |
| 中文 | 篩子 /筛子 shāizi |
| हिन्दी | चलनी calnī, छन्नी channī |
| Kiswahili | kichujio, mafumbo |
| Português | peneira, coador, crivo |
| Français | tamis, crible, passoire |
| Deutsch | Sieb |
| Italiano | setaccio, scolino, crivello, vaglio, buratto, tamiso |
| Ελληνικά | κόσκινο kóskino, κρισάρα krisára |
| Română | sită, ciur |
| Русский | решето́ rešetó, си́то síto, дуршла́г duršlág |
| Tiếng Việt | rây, rây bột |
| العربية | غِرْبَال ḡirbāl, مِصْفاة miṣfāh |
| עברית | מְסַנֶּנֶת m'sanenét, מִסְנֶנֶת misnénet, נָפָה nafá |
noun process that filters out unwanted pieces of input
| Español | criba |
|---|---|
| हिन्दी | छानना chānnā |
| Português | crivo |
| Français | crible |
| Русский | просе́ивание proséivanije |
verb to strain, sift or sort using a sieve
| 日本語 | 篩う furuu |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 篩 /筛 shāi |
| हिन्दी | छानना chānnā |
| Português | coar, peneirar |
| Français | tamiser, sasser |
| Deutsch | sieben, durchsieben |
| Italiano | setacciare, stacciare, crivellare |
| Ελληνικά | κοσκινίζω koskinízo |
| Română | cerne |
| Русский | просе́ивать proséivatʹ, отсе́ивать otséivatʹ |
| العربية | صَفَّى ṣaffā, غَرْبَلَ ḡarbala, رَشَحَ rašaḥa |
| עברית | ניפה, נִפָּה nipá, סינן, סִנֵּן sinén |
Talk about this word "sieve." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sieve. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. sieve. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sieve "sieve." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sieve.Cite this
@misc{sieve_2026,
title = {sieve},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sieve},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
