Sieve vs. Strain — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Maham Liaqat — Updated on May 4, 2024
Sieve involves separating particles using a mesh allowing smaller particles to pass through, whereas straining typically uses a filter or cloth to separate liquids from solids.
Difference Between Sieve and Strain
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A sieve is typically a device with a mesh used for separating finer particles from coarser ones by size. Whereas, straining involves pouring a mixture through a filter or cloth to separate solid materials from liquids.
Sieves are often used in cooking to sift dry ingredients like flour and in scientific contexts to categorize particles by size. On the other hand, strainers are commonly employed to remove solid impurities from liquids, such as in making broth or tea.
The design of a sieve usually consists of a wire or plastic mesh stretched over a frame. Whereas, a strainer might be a fine mesh, a perforated bowl, or even a cloth.
Sieves often come in various mesh sizes, tailored for specific types of materials and granularity. In contrast, strainers typically have a uniform design meant for general use across various cooking and liquid processing tasks.
When using a sieve, the process involves shaking or tapping to help particles pass through the mesh. On the other hand, straining usually requires the mixture to be poured through the strainer, utilizing gravity to separate the liquid from the solids.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
A tool with a mesh for separating particles by size.
A method or device to separate liquid from solids.
Usage Context
Cooking, scientific measurements.
Cooking, preparing beverages.
Design
Mesh sizes vary widely.
Generally uniform, can be mesh or cloth.
Operation Method
Shaking or tapping required.
Gravity-driven, pouring involved.
Primary Function
Separates dry particles by size.
Separates solids from liquids.
Compare with Definitions
Sieve
A mesh used in a sieve.
Make sure the sieve’s mesh is fine enough to catch all the impurities.
Strain
To exert or be subjected to pressure, pain, or distress.
She strained her eyes trying to read the tiny print.
Sieve
A device with meshes or perforations through which finer particles of a mixture (as of ashes, flour, sand) are passed to separate them from coarser ones.
The geologist used a series of sieves to sort the soil samples by grain size.
Strain
The deformation of a body part by excessive tension.
Avoid lifting heavy weights to prevent muscle strain.
Sieve
An instrument with a meshed or perforated bottom, used for separating coarse from fine parts of loose matter.
He rinsed the harvested quinoa through a sieve to remove any debris.
Strain
A severe or excessive demand on the strength, resources, or abilities of someone or something.
The emergency cases put a strain on the hospital’s staff.
Sieve
A utensil consisting of a wire or plastic mesh held in a frame, used for straining solids from liquids, sifting flour, or other fine materials.
She used a sieve to sift the flour and sugar together for the cake mix.
Strain
To pour off (liquid) through a filter or a porous substance to remove solid matter.
He strained the pasta in the sink to remove all the hot water.
Sieve
A kitchen tool used to separate and break up clumps in dry ingredients.
Using a sieve, she ensured the powdered sugar was perfectly smooth for the icing.
Strain
An act of straining or the state of being strained.
After the long hike, she felt a strain in her knees.
Sieve
A sieve, fine mesh strainer, or sift, is a device for separating wanted elements from unwanted material or for characterizing the particle size distribution of a sample, using a screen such as a woven mesh or net or perforated sheet material. The word "sift" derives from "sieve".
Strain
To pull, draw, or stretch tight
The heavy load strained the rope.
Sieve
A utensil of wire mesh or closely perforated metal or plastic, used for straining, sifting, ricing, or puréeing.
Strain
(Physics) To cause distortion of (a body's parts or shape) by applying an external force; deform.
Sieve
To pass through a sieve.
Strain
To exert, use, or tax to the utmost
Straining our ears to hear.
Sieve
To use a sieve; sift.
Strain
To injure or impair by overuse or overexertion; wrench
Strain a muscle.
Sieve
A device with a mesh bottom to separate, in a granular material, larger particles from smaller ones, or to separate solid objects from a liquid.
Use the sieve to get the pasta from the water.
Strain
To damage or weaken by pressure or tension
Winds that strained the mast.
Sieve
A process, physical or abstract, that arrives at a final result by filtering out unwanted pieces of input from a larger starting set of input.
Given a list of consecutive numbers starting at 1, the Sieve of Eratosthenes algorithm will find all of the prime numbers.
Strain
To force beyond the proper or reasonable limit
An excuse that strains credulity.
Sieve
(obsolete) A kind of coarse basket.
Strain
To pass (a liquid) through a filtering agent such as a strainer.
Sieve
(colloquial) A person, or their mind, that cannot remember things or is unable to keep secrets.
Strain
To draw off or remove by filtration
Strained the pulp from the juice.
Sieve
An intern who lets too many non-serious cases into the emergency room.
Strain
(Archaic) To embrace or clasp tightly; hug.
Sieve
(category theory) A collection of morphisms in a category whose codomain is a certain fixed object of that category, which collection is closed under precomposition by any morphism in the category.
Strain
To make strong or steady efforts; strive hard
Straining to complete the coursework.
Sieve
To strain, sift or sort using a sieve.
Strain
To contract or exert one's muscles to the utmost.
Sieve
(sports) To concede; let in
Strain
To pull or push forcibly or violently
The dog strained at its leash.
Sieve
A utensil for separating the finer and coarser parts of a pulverized or granulated substance from each other. It consist of a vessel, usually shallow, with the bottom perforated, or made of hair, wire, or the like, woven in meshes.
Strain
To be or become wrenched or twisted
The flagpole straining in the wind.
Sieve
A kind of coarse basket.
Strain
To be subjected to great stress
With such busy lives, the marriage can strain.
Sieve
A strainer for separating lumps from powdered material or grading particles
Strain
To pass through a filtering agent
The muddy water strains slowly.
Sieve
Examine in order to test suitability;
Screen these samples
Screen the job applicants
Strain
The act of straining.
Sieve
Check and sort carefully;
Sift the information
Strain
The state of being strained
The strain on the cable.
Sieve
Separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements;
Sift the flour
Strain
Extreme or laborious effort, exertion, or work
Moved the sofa with little strain.
Sieve
Distinguish and separate out;
Sift through the job candidates
Strain
A great or excessive demand or stress on one's body, mind, or resources
The strain of managing both a family and a career.
Strain
The state of being subjected to such demands or stresses
Trying to work under great strain.
Strain
A wrench, twist, or other physical injury resulting from excessive tension, effort, or use.
Strain
(Physics) Any of several kinds of deformation of the dimensions of a body when subjected to stress, as axial strain or elastic strain.
Strain
An exceptional degree or pitch
A strain of zealous idealism.
Strain
A group of bacteria or viruses that are genetically distinct from other groups of the same species.
Strain
A group of cultivated plants or domestic animals of the same species that have distinctive characteristics but are not considered a separate breed or variety.
Strain
The collective descendants of a common ancestor; a race, stock, line, or breed.
Strain
Any of the various lines of ancestry united in an individual or a family; ancestry or lineage.
Strain
A kind or sort
Imaginings of a morbid strain.
Strain
An inborn or inherited tendency or character
A strain of eccentricity in the family.
Strain
An inherent quality; a streak
"his upper-caste father, placid, inactive, with a strain of asceticism" (V.S. Naipaul).
Strain
The tone, tenor, or substance of a verbal utterance or of a particular action or behavior
Spoke in a passionate strain.
Strain
Often strains(Music) A passage of expression; a tune or an air
Melodic strains of the violin.
Strain
A passage of poetic and especially lyrical expression.
Strain
An outburst or a flow of eloquent or impassioned language.
Strain
(archaic) Race; lineage, pedigree.
Strain
(biology) A particular variety of a microbe, virus, or other organism, usually a taxonomically infraspecific one.
They say this year's flu virus is a particularly virulent strain.
Strain
(figurative) Hereditary character, quality, tendency, or disposition.
There is a strain of madness in her family.
Strain
Any sustained note or movement; a song; a distinct portion of an ode or other poem; also, the pervading note, or burden, of a song, poem, etc.
Strain
Language that is eloquent, poetic, or otherwise heightened.
Strain
(rare) A kind or sort (of person etc.).
Strain
(obsolete) Treasure.
Strain
(obsolete) The blood-vessel in the yolk of an egg.
Strain
The act of straining, or the state of being strained.
Strain
A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles.
He jumped up with a strain
The strain upon the sailboat's rigging
Strain
An injury resulting from violent effort; a sprain.
Strain
A dimensionless measure of object deformation either referring to engineering strain or true strain.
Strain
(obsolete) The track of a deer.
Strain
(obsolete) To hold tightly, to clasp.
Strain
To apply a force or forces to by stretching out.
To strain a rope; to strain the shrouds of a ship
Relations between the United States and Guatemala traditionally have been close, although at times strained by human rights and civil/military issues.
Strain
To damage by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force.
The gale strained the timbers of the ship.
Strain
To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as when bending a beam.
Strain
To exert or struggle (to do something), especially to stretch (one's senses, faculties etc.) beyond what is normal or comfortable.
Sitting in back, I strained to hear the speaker.
Strain
To stretch beyond its proper limit; to do violence to, in terms of intent or meaning.
To strain the law in order to convict an accused person
Strain
(transitive) To separate solid from liquid by passing through a strainer or colander
Strain
(intransitive) To percolate; to be filtered.
Water straining through a sandy soil
Strain
To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain.
Strain
To urge with importunity; to press.
To strain a petition or invitation
Strain
(transitive) hug somebody; to hold somebody tightly.
Strain
(obsolete) To beget, generate (of light), engender, copulate (both of animals and humans), lie with, be born, come into the world.
A man straineth, liveth, then dieth.
Man, look at that cat straining that kitty.
Strain
Race; stock; generation; descent; family.
He is of a noble strain.
With animals and plants a cross between different varieties, or between individuals of the same variety but of another strain, gives vigor and fertility to the offspring.
Strain
Hereditary character, quality, or disposition.
Intemperance and lust breed diseases, which, propogated, spoil the strain of nation.
Strain
Rank; a sort.
Strain
A cultural subvariety that is only slightly differentiated.
Strain
The act of straining, or the state of being strained.
Strain
A violent effort; an excessive and hurtful exertion or tension, as of the muscles; as, he lifted the weight with a strain; the strain upon a ship's rigging in a gale; also, the hurt or injury resulting; a sprain.
Whether any poet of our country since Shakespeare has exerted a greater variety of powers with less strain and less ostentation.
Credit is gained by custom, and seldom recovers a strain.
Strain
A portion of music divided off by a double bar; a complete musical period or sentence; a movement, or any rounded subdivision of a movement.
Their heavenly harps a lower strain began.
Strain
A change of form or dimensions of a solid or liquid mass, produced by a stress.
Strain
Any sustained note or movement; a song; a distinct portion of an ode or other poem; also, the pervading note, or burden, of a song, poem, oration, book, etc.; theme; motive; manner; style; also, a course of action or conduct; as, he spoke in a noble strain; there was a strain of woe in his story; a strain of trickery appears in his career.
Such take too high a strain at first.
The genius and strain of the book of Proverbs.
It [Pilgrim's Progress] seems a novelty, and yet containsNothing but sound and honest gospel strains.
Strain
Turn; tendency; inborn disposition. Cf. 1st Strain.
Because heretics have a strain of madness, he applied her with some corporal chastisements.
Strain
To draw with force; to extend with great effort; to stretch; as, to strain a rope; to strain the shrouds of a ship; to strain the cords of a musical instrument.
Strain
To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as forces on a beam to bend it.
Strain
To exert to the utmost; to ply vigorously.
He sweats,Strains his young nerves.
They strain their warbling throatsTo welcome in the spring.
Strain
To stretch beyond its proper limit; to do violence to, in the matter of intent or meaning; as, to strain the law in order to convict an accused person.
There can be no other meaning in this expression, however some may pretend to strain it.
Strain
To injure by drawing, stretching, or the exertion of force; as, the gale strained the timbers of the ship.
Strain
To injure in the muscles or joints by causing to make too strong an effort; to harm by overexertion; to sprain; as, to strain a horse by overloading; to strain the wrist; to strain a muscle.
Prudes decayed about may track,Strain their necks with looking back.
Strain
To squeeze; to press closely.
Evander with a close embraceStrained his departing friend.
Strain
To make uneasy or unnatural; to produce with apparent effort; to force; to constrain.
He talks and plays with Fatima, but his mirthIs forced and strained.
The quality of mercy is not strained.
Strain
To urge with importunity; to press; as, to strain a petition or invitation.
Note, if your lady strain his entertainment.
Strain
To press, or cause to pass, through a strainer, as through a screen, a cloth, or some porous substance; to purify, or separate from extraneous or solid matter, by filtration; to filter; as, to strain milk through cloth.
Strain
To make violent efforts.
To build his fortune I will strain a little.
Strain
To percolate; to be filtered; as, water straining through a sandy soil.
Strain
(physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces
Strain
Difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension;
She endured the stresses and strains of life
He presided over the economy during the period of the greatest stress and danger
Strain
A succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence;
She was humming an air from Beethoven
Strain
(psychology) nervousness resulting from mental stress;
His responsibilities were a constant strain
The mental strain of staying alert hour after hour was too much for him
Strain
A special variety of domesticated animals within a species;
He experimented on a particular breed of white rats
He created a new strain of sheep
Strain
(biology) a group of organisms within a species that differ in trivial ways from similar groups;
A new strain of microorganisms
Strain
A lineage or race of people
Strain
Injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in swelling and pain
Strain
Pervading note of an utterance;
I could follow the general tenor of his argument
Strain
An effortful attempt to attain a goal
Strain
An intense or violent exertion
Strain
The act of singing;
With a shout and a song they marched up to the gates
Strain
To exert much effort or energy;
Straining our ears to hear
Strain
Test the limits of;
You are trying my patience!
Strain
Use to the utmost; exert vigorously or to full capacity;
He really extended himself when he climbed Kilimanjaro
Don't strain your mind too much
Strain
Separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements;
Sift the flour
Strain
Make tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious;
Strain
Stretch or force to the limit;
Strain the rope
Strain
Remove by passing through a filter;
Filter out the impurities
Strain
Rub through a strainer or process in an electric blender;
Puree the vegetables for the baby
Strain
Alter the shape of (something) by stress;
His body was deformed by leprosy
Common Curiosities
Can a sieve be used for liquids?
Yes, sieves can be used to strain larger particles from liquids, though they are more commonly used for dry materials.
What types of materials can you strain?
Liquids with solid impurities, such as broths, sauces, or teas.
Are sieves used in industries other than food?
Yes, sieves are used in various industries, including pharmaceuticals and construction, for material sorting.
Can the same results be achieved with a sieve and a strainer?
Not always, as sieves and strainers are designed for different levels of granularity and types of materials.
What is a typical material for making a sieve?
Sieves are often made from stainless steel or plastic meshes.
How is straining different from sieving?
Straining separates liquids from solids using a filter or cloth, while sieving sorts particles by size using a mesh.
What is the main use of a sieve?
Sieves are primarily used for sifting dry ingredients and sorting particles by size.
Is a strainer always made of mesh?
No, strainers can also be made of perforated metal or cloth.
What should I consider when choosing between a sieve and a strainer?
Consider the material's type and the size of particles you need to separate.
How do you clean a sieve?
Clean a sieve by washing it under running water and using a brush to remove stuck particles.
What sizes do sieves come in?
Sieves can range widely in mesh size, from very fine to coarse.
Why might someone prefer a strainer over a sieve?
For tasks that involve separating liquids from solids, a strainer might be more practical.
How do you clean a strainer?
Rinse it under hot water immediately after use and use a brush if needed to remove debris.
What is a common alternative to a sieve for sifting flour?
A flour sifter, which is specifically designed to aerate flour but works similarly to a sieve.
Can strainers be used to sift dry ingredients?
Yes, but generally, sieves are better suited for sifting dry ingredients finely.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Maham Liaqat
