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sifter

sifter

3 2.8
A kitchen tool with small holes used to remove lumps from flour and make it light
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪftər/
translation icon : tamiz
  • Stuck in with the strainers of all sizes, she found a flour sifter that fit her hand better than the one she'd become accustomed to.
  • flour sifter
  • sugar sifter
  • triple sifter

I really prefer these sifters to like plastic ones.

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Examples

  • I'd see her take a breath before leaving our house and crossing next door to our neighbors for a cup of sugar or a sifter of biscuit flour.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • She spooned it out of the box and into a tiny sifter, shaking the sifter so that the sugar fell like snow on her food.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • What I need you to do is take that sifter, and then pour about half of that.

  • You bring me a decent flour sifter and some real measuring cups, then I might be able to remember the final ingredient.

  • Use the sifter to separate the flour from any lumps before baking your cake.

  • She carefully poured the sugar into the sifter to aerate it for the recipe.

  • The chef recommended using a sifter to achieve light and fluffy pancakes.

Synonyms

sieve
vssifter
18 2.4

A device with small holes that separates solids from liquids

is mainly for dry baking, breaking clumps and aerating flour
strainer
vssifter
13 1.7

A bowl or cup with small holes that separates solids from liquids

is used for dry flour work to break clumps and add air
riddle
vssifter
  • Archaic
7 9.9

A coarse sieve used to separate stones from sand

is for kitchen dry ingredients, not for heavy coarse materials
bolter
vssifter
  • Specialized
9.9

A machine or cloth that sifts flour to remove bran

is the home utensil for small scale baking and aerating flour

Compounds

4.9

A garden tool that separates soil from stones and debris

A tool that removes stones and clumps from fine soil

How Fine

filter
139 2.8
sifter
3 2.8
sieve
18 2.4
strainer
13 1.7
colander
9 2.7

Surface Forms

sifter singular
sifters plural

Morphology

sifter = sift (transparent) = sift + er

Standard agent/instrument nominalization from the verb 'sift' using the productive suffix '-er', so the meaning 'one or something that sifts' is directly predictable.

Etymology

The word sifter comes from the verb sift ('to separate by shaking or passing through holes') plus the agent ending -er, so it literally means 'the thing that sifts'. Think of a sieve, a tool with holes that lets fine flour pass and keeps lumps out, which is why a sifter is used in the kitchen to remove clumps and make dry ingredients light.