1. A utensil of wire mesh or closely perforated metal, used for straining, sifting, ricing, or puréeing.
2. to pass through a sieve.
3. to use a sieve; sift.

1. A device to separate larger objects from smaller objects, or to separate solid objects from a liquid.
2. 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.
3. to strain, sift or sort using a sieve.

1. A utensil for separating the finer and coarser parts of a pulverized or granulated substance from each other. it consist of a vessel, usually shallow, with the bottom perforated, or made of hair, wire, or the like, woven in meshes.
2. A kind of coarse basket.

1. to cause the finer parts of to pass through or as if through a sieve; sift.
2. an instrument for separating the finer from the coarser parts of disintegrated matter, by shaking it so as to force the former through meshes too small for the latter to pass. sieves are made in many forms for a great variety of uses. see hair-siere, scarce, screen, bolting-cloth, etc.
3. something for other use shaped like or in some way resembling the common circular sieve.
4. A wide sheepskin-covered hoop used in some localities for holding wool.
5. in calico-printing, a cloth extending over a vat which contains the color.
6. figuratively, a thing which lacks closeness of texture, or a person who lacks closeness of disposition; especially, a very frank or free-spoken person; one who lets out all that he knows.

1. examine in order to test suitability
2. a strainer for separating lumps from powdered material or grading particles
3. check and sort carefully
4. separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements
5. distinguish and separate out