What does "sieve" mean?
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.
Sieve
/sɪv/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: 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.
- Grammar: sieve is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: screen, analyze, analyzer, arabesque.
- Useful contrasts: admission, blockage, include.
- Usage evidence: Water runs through a paper towel as if it were a sieve.
How to use "sieve"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "sieve" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "sieve" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "sieve" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "sieve" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "sieve" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "screen" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "sieve", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 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"
- 2 a strainer for separating lumps from powdered material or grading particles wordnet
- 3 A process, physical or abstract, that arrives at a final result by filtering out unwanted pieces of input from a larger starting set of input.
"Given a list of consecutive numbers starting at 1, the Sieve of Eratosthenes algorithm will find all of the prime numbers."
- 4 A kind of coarse basket. obsolete
- 5 A person, or their mind, that cannot remember things or is unable to keep secrets. colloquial
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 An intern who lets too many non-serious cases into the emergency room. derogatory, slang
"To be a sieve was to lack clinical judgment, courage, and group loyalty all at once."
- 7 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.
Verb
- 1 To strain, sift or sort using a sieve. transitive
"Serpulorbis grandis feeds on plankton that it seives ^([sic]) from the water like a clam does."
- 2 distinguish and separate out wordnet
- 3 To concede; to let in. transitive
"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."
- 4 separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements wordnet
- 5 check and sort carefully wordnet
Show 1 more definition
- 6 examine in order to test suitability wordnet
Example
"Water runs through a paper towel as if it were a sieve."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "sieve"?
Common synonyms include: screen, analyze, analyzer, arabesque, assort, basketry.
How do you use "sieve" in a sentence?
Water runs through a paper towel as if it were a sieve.
How do you pronounce "sieve"?
Pronounced /sɪv/.
Etymology
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)).