A list of words and phrases used in recipes, and what they really mean

Word or Phrase	Sieve
What it means	Even powders like flour and sugar have lumps in them, and liquids can have pips, lumps and bits of stray whiskers in them. A sieve is a hemisphere (half a ball) made of fine mesh. It lets the small bits through and catches the larger bits. Confusingly the act of using a sieve is also 'sieve'. When a recipe asks you to sieve the flour it means 'get a sieve and use it on the flour'.