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drain basket

drain basket

1 2.8
A small basket in a sink that catches food scraps while water flows through
  • noun
: colador
  • The drain basket caught all the scraps and food particles while allowing the sink to empty quickly.

Examples

  • She used the drain basket to prevent any debris from clogging the plumbing during food prep.

  • After washing the vegetables, I placed them in the drain basket to let the water run off.

  • The counter to my left is where I keep my knives (in a block), cutting boards, and scale, and is where I put stuff to dry in the drain basket. The counter to my right is for dirty dishes or for staging stuff for later in a recipe so it's out of my way, and where the food processor is kept so it can be used at any given moment.

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Synonyms

drainer
vsdrain basket
1 2.4

A device that removes liquid, for example from washed food

is focused on catching solid debris while allowing water to pass through

How Effective

drain basket
1 2.8
strainer
13 1.7

Surface Forms

drain basket singular
drain baskets plural

Morphology

drain + basket

The meaning 'a perforated container placed in a sink drain to catch debris' is directly and compositionally derivable from 'drain' (the outflow/pipe) + 'basket' (a receptacle): it denotes a basket associated with the drain. This noun–noun compounding follows a common, transparent pattern that is cross-linguistically typical, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

The noun drain basket is a small basket with holes that sits in the drain of a sink and catches food scraps while water flows away. So it means 'a strainer placed in a sink to catch food scraps while allowing water to pass through'.