sieving

Separating by mesh

Sieving is the process of passing material through a sieve to separate finer particles from coarser ones.

Flour is sieved to remove lumps, soil to remove stones.

The word extends to any sorting process that filters or screens: sieving through job applications, sieving data for relevant results.

culinary

colander

Kitchen bowl for draining

strainerPerforated draining vessel
siftSeparate coarse from fine
flourMilled grain powder

drain · rinse · powdered · dusting · baking · lumps · tamis · chinois · icing sugar · cocoa

separation

mesh

Interlocking open weave

screenDisplay or barrier
siftingSeparating by particle size
particleMinute piece of matter

grain · size · sort · classify · gradation · aggregate · powder · flour · sand · granular

filtration

filter

Porous separation device

porosityVoid space density
permeabilityAbility to transmit fluids
poreTiny dermal opening

filtrate · percolation · purification · semipermeable · micron · membrane · retention · medium · barrier · suspension

Categories

extractionmining, excavation, distillation, filtration, extraction
food prep methodsmashing, blending, crushing, whipping, grinding
separationseparate, straining, divide, filtration, split
archaeologyexcavation, dig site, archaeologist, dig, archaeological digs
flour millingflour, grinding, millstones, flour mills, wheat flour
membrane filtrationreverse osmosis, semipermeable, membrane technology, hollow fiber, permeability

Opposites

separation vs. combination

sievingmixing

Combining into one mass

combining · blending · merging · amalgamating · homogenizing

filtration vs. retention

sievingblocking

Impeding forward progress

clogging · sealing · obstructing · retaining · stopping

selective filtration vs. undiscriminating passage

sievingdumping

Disposing carelessly or abruptly

Family

sieve, sieves, sieved

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G