I. sieve 1 /sɪv/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: sife ]
1 .
a) a round wire kitchen tool with a lot of small holes, used for separating solid food from liquid or small pieces of food from large pieces
b) a round wire tool for separating small objects from large objects
2 . have a memory like a sieve informal to forget things easily
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THESAURUS
■ preparing food
▪ grate to cut cheese, carrot etc into small pieces by rubbing it against a special tool:
Grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the top of the pasta.
▪ melt to make butter, chocolate etc become liquid:
Melt the butter, chocolate, and 1 teaspoon of cream over a low heat.
▪ sieve British English , sift American English to put flour or other powders through a ↑ sieve (=tool like a net made of wire, which you use for removing larger grains or pieces) :
Sift the flour and cocoa before adding to the rest of the mixture.
▪ chop to cut something into pieces, especially using a big knife:
Chop up the vegetables.
▪ dice to cut vegetables or meat into small square pieces:
Dice the carrots and then fry them in butter.
▪ season to add salt, pepper etc to food:
Season the meat before grilling.
▪ crush to use a lot of force to break something such as seeds into very small pieces or into a powder:
Add one clove of crushed garlic.
▪ mix to combine different foods together:
Mix together all the ingredients in one bowl.
▪ beat/whisk to mix food together quickly with a fork or other tool:
Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
▪ stir to turn food around with a spoon:
Stir the sauce gently to prevent burning.
▪ fold something in to gently mix another substance into a mixture:
Fold in the beaten egg whites.
▪ knead to press ↑ dough (=a mixture of flour and water) many times with your hands when you are making bread:
Knead the dough for ten minutes, until smooth.
▪ drizzle to slowly pour a small amount of a liquid onto something:
Drizzle with olive oil.
▪ let something stand to leave something somewhere, before you do something else with it:
Let the mixture stand for a couple of hours so that it cools naturally.
▪ serve to put different foods together as part of a meal:
Serve with rice and a salad.
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Serve the aubergines on a bed of lettuce.
II. sieve 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
to put flour or other food through a sieve:
Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl.