| Strainer 1. (n.) One who strains. 2. (n.) That through which any liquid is passed for purification or to separate it from solid matter; anything, as a screen or a cloth, used to strain a liquid; a device of the character of a sieve or of a filter; specifically, an openwork or perforated screen, as for the end of the suction pipe of a pump, to prevent large solid bodies from entering with a liquid. Thesaurus Entries clarifier, colander, cradle, cribble, cribriformity, cribrosity, filter, honeycomb, lixiviator, net, percolator, porosity, porousness, purifier, refiner, refinery, riddle, rocker, screen, sieve, sievelikeness, sifter, sponge, winnow, winnowing basket, winnowing fan, winnowing machine |