Sieve

Lore & Background

Sieving is a simple technique for separating particles of different sizes. A sieve used for sifting flour has very small holes; coarse particles are separated or broken up by grinding against one another and the screen openings. Depending on the types of particles to be separated, sieves with different types of holes are used. Sieves are also used to separate stones from sand. Sieving plays an important role in food industries where sieves, often vibrating, are used to prevent contamination of the product by foreign bodies. The design of the industrial sieve is of primary importance. Triage sieving refers to grouping people according to their severity of injury.

Reader's Guide

The sieve has been a fundamental tool across multiple domains. In cooking, it aerates and combines dry ingredients and separates solids from liquids. In civil engineering and sedimentology, sieve analysis (or gradation test) assesses particle size distribution of granular materials using combinations of four to eight sieves. Industrial sieves, often vibrating, prevent contamination in food production. The sieve also carries cultural significance: in iconography, it was used as a symbol of chastity, referencing the Latin legend of the vestal virgin Tuccia, who carried water from the Tiber in a sieve without losing a drop. The term 'sieve' is also used in trash-talk in ice hockey for a goaltender who lets in too many goals, and the idiom 'leaks like a sieve' describes a container with multiple leaks or an organization that routinely discloses confidential information.

Did You Know?

• The word 'sift' derives from 'sieve'.
• Henry Stephens advised that the withes of a wooden riddle or sieve be made from fir or willow, with American elm being best, and rims from fir, oak, or beech.
• The sieve was used as a symbol of chastity in iconography, referencing the vestal virgin Tuccia who carried water in a sieve without losing a drop.