siftings

The baker carefully removes the siftings from the flour.

Definition

Noun (plural only):
- siftings refer to the material that has been separated or removed by sifting, such as coarse particles, impurities, or waste (e.g., grit, chaff, or dust).
- In a literal sense, it is the residue left after fine particles pass through a sieve.

Usage Examples

• (The waste removed by sifting the flour.)
• (The material left after sifting soil.)
• (The coarse residue after sifting gravel.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be among the siftings": to be considered worthless or discarded.
  • In the old mining town, the discarded siftings were piled high near the river. (The leftover waste from sifting ore.)

Variants and Related Words

• Sift (verb): to separate or remove coarse particles by passing through a sieve.
  • She sifted the flour to remove lumps. (She used a sieve to refine the flour.)
• Sifter (noun): a utensil used for sifting, such as a sieve or strainer.
  • The baker used a fine sifter to dust powdered sugar on the cake. (A tool for sifting.)

Synonyms

• Residue: the remaining material after a process.
• Dross: waste or impurities, especially from metal smelting.
• Tailings: waste material left after mining or processing.

Related Idioms

• "sift through the siftings": to examine discarded material carefully for something valuable.
  • He sifted through the siftings of the old library, looking for rare manuscripts. (He searched through the waste for hidden treasures.)

Note on Usage

• is almost always used in the plural form, similar to words like or . It can be literal (e.g., from cooking, mining) or metaphorical (e.g., "the siftings of society" meaning outcasts or waste).