siesta 
siesta (sies'ta). H. [= F. siestc = <i. sirntn, < Sp. 
siesta = Pg. It. scsta, a nap taken at noon, lit. 
'the sixth hour,' < L. sexto, sc. lion/, tlio sixth 
hour after sunrise, the hour of noon, fem. of 
sextus, sixth, < sex, six: see six. Cf. noon 1 .'] A 
midday rest or nap; an interval of sleep or re- 
pose taken in the hottest part of the day: a 
common practice in Spain and other hot coun- 
tries. 
The inhabitants were enjoying their siesta. 
W. II. lluxa'll. Diary in India, II. 243. 
sieur (sier), . [F., < L. senior, elder: see 
senior, sir.'] A title of respect formerly used 
by the French, and still extant in law-practice. 
Sieva bean. A variety, together with the Lima 
bean, of Pltaseolus lunatus, a twining species 
with broad and curved or simitar-shaped pods 
containing few flat seeds. 
Sieve (siv), n. [Early mod. E. sire, syve; < ME. 
sive, syve, sife, syfe, syffe, < AS. sifc, in oldest 
form sibi (= MD. sere, scf, D. zeef = MLG. LG. 
seve = OHG. sib, MHG. sip, G. sieb, *y>), a sieve ; 
cf. sifetlie, sifetha, bran, siftan, sift: see sift."] 
1. An instrument for separating the finer from 
the coarser parts of disintegrated matter, by 
shaking it so as to force the former through 
meshes too small for the latter to pass. Sieves 
are made in many forms for a great variety of 
uses. See hair-sieve, searcc, screen, bolting-cloth, 
etc. 2. Something for other use shaped like 
or in some way resembling the common circular 
sieve, (a) A basket of coarsely plaited straw or the like, 
so called because it is made with many small meshes or 
openings : locally used as a measure, about a bushel. 
Sieves and half-'eiw are baskets to be met with in every 
quarter of Covent Garden market. 
Steevens, Notes on Shakspere's T. and C., ii. 2. 
(6) A wide sheepskin-covered hoop used in some localities 
for holding wool. 
There was a woman was cardin' wool, and after she 
carded it she put it into her sieve. 
Quoted in Pop. Sci. Mo., XXXVII. 240. 
3. In calico-printing, a cloth extending over a 
vat which contains the color. E. H. Knight. 
4. Figuratively, a thing which lacks close- 
ness of texture, or a person who lacks closeness 
of disposition ; especially, a very frank or free- 
spoken person; one who lets out all that he 
knows. 
Why, then, as you are a waiting-woman, as you are the 
sieve of all your lady's secrets, tell it me. 
Dryden, Mock Astrologer, 1. 1. 
Drum-Sieve, a kind of sieve in extensive use among 
druggists, drysalters, and confectioners : so named from 
its form. It is used for sifting very fine powders, and 
consists of three parts or sections, the top and bottom sec- 
tions being covered with parchment or leather, and made 
to fit over and under a sieve of the usual form, which is 
placed between them. The substance to be sifted being 
thus closed in, the operator is not annoyed by the clouds 
of powder which would otherwise be produced by the agi- 
tation, and the material sifted is at the same time saved 
from waste. Sieve and shears, an old mode of divina- 
tion. See coscinomancy. 
Th' oracle of sieve and shears, 
That turns as certain as the spheres. 
5. Butter, Hudibras, II. iii. 569. 
Sieve of Eratosthenes, a contrivance for finding prime 
numbers. All the numbers from any limit to any other are 
written one below another at equal distances. A piece of 
Kaper is then cut out in a gridiron shape so that it can be 
lid down to cover all the numbers divisible by 2. Another 
piece covers all those divisible by 3 ; and so on until all but 
the prime numbers are covered. 
sieve (siv), r. t. ; pret. and pp. sieved, ppr. siev- 
ing. [Early mod. E. sive, syve (= MLG. seven 
= G. sieben), sift; from the noun. Cf. sift."] 
To cause the finer parts of to pass through or as 
if through a sieve ; sift. 
He ... busies himselfe ... in syving of Muck-hills 
and shop-dust, whereof he will boult a whole cart load to 
gain a bow'd pinne. Nashe, Pierce Peuilesse, p. 15. 
It was supposed that in microbic diseases the blood 
"swarmed" with the specific germs, and, arrived in the 
renal circulation, they were in turn "sieved out." 
Medical News, LIT. 466. 
The fibers of wood . . . are then sieved according to 
fineness. Kncyc. Brit., XVIII. 225. 
sieve-beaked (siv'bekt), a. Having a lamel- 
late bill acting as a sieve, sifter, or strainer; 
lamcllirostral. 
Sievebeaks (siv'beks), n. pi. The lamelliros- 
tral birds, as ducks and geese : a translation of 
the technical name LameUirostres. 
sieve-cell (siv'sel), n. In bot., a prosenchyma- 
tous cell, as, for example, such as occur in the 
inner bark of the stems of certain dicotyle- 
dons, in which the walls have become thick- 
ened reticulately, leaving large thin areas or 
panels. After a time these thin areas may become ab- 
sorbed, allowing the protoplasm of adjacent cells to be- 
come structurally united. The thin areas or panels are 
called sieve-platee, and the perforations permitting com- 
5619 
iminication between the cells, sieve-pores. Sieve-cells con- 
stitute an essential element of flbrovascular bundles, and, 
taken collectively, form sieve-tissue, or 
cribriform tissue. See cribriform, tissue, 
Uteri. 
These perforations [of the cell-wall 1 
often occur in groups both upon the cell- 
wall and upon the septum between su- 
perposed cells, and give rise to a remark- 
able sieve-like structure, in which case 
they are termed sieve-cells. 
Encyc. Brit., IV. 87. 
Sieve-disk (siv'disk), . Inbot., 
same as sieve-plate, 2. 
sieve-hypha (siv'hi"fa), n. In 
bot., a hypha which exhibits more 
or less perfect sieve-plates, as 
in certain laminariaceous sea- 
weeds. 
sieve-like (siv'lik), a. In aunt., 
cribriform; ethmoid. 
sieve-plate (siv'plat), n. 1. A 
bone or other hard, flat part full 
of little holes; a foraminulose sieve-ceils of 
plate or surface; specifically, the 
cribriform plate of the ethmoid 
bone. 2. In bot., one of the panels or thin 
areas of a sieve-cell. See sieve-cell. 3. In pa- 
per-manuf., a strainer for paper-pulp; a knot- 
ter; a sif ting-machine. 
sieve-pore (siv'por), n. In bot., one of the pores 
or openings through the sieve-plate permitting 
communication between contiguous sieve-cells. 
See sieve-cell. 
sievest, n. pi. An obsolete form of cives. See 
cive. HollybaniTs Diet., 1593. (Halliwell.) 
sieve-tissue (siv'tish'o), n. In bot., tissue 
composed of sieve-cells. 
sieve-tube (siv'tub), H. In bot., same as sieve- 
cell. 
sieve-vessel (siv'ves"el), n. In bot., same as 
sieve-cell. 
sieveyert (siv'yer), n. [Early mod. E. siveyer ; 
< sieve + -yer.] A maker of sieves. 
William Siveyer was born at Shincliff e in this bishoprick, 
where his father was a siveyer or sieve-maker. 
Putter, Worthies, Durham, I. 48S. 
sifac (se'fak), n. [Malagasy.] The babakoto 
or short-tailed indri of Madagascar, Indris bre- 
vicaudatus. It varies to nearly white, when it is also 
called simpounA and venerated by the Malagasies. See 
cut under indri. 
Sifatite (si-fa'tit), n. [< Ar. sifdt, attributes, 
+ -j'te 2 .] A member of a Mohammedan sect or 
school which believes that God's attributes are 
eternally part of his being. 
A third sect, that of the Sifatites (Partisans of the At- 
tributes), contended energetically against the two former 
[Jabarites and Motazilites]. Encyc. Brit., XVI. 592. 
sifflet (sif '!), '. [< ME. siflen, syflen, < OF. (and 
F.) si'ffler, whistle, = Pr. siblar, ciblar, siular = 
Sp. silbar = Pg. sibilar = It. sibilare, sibillare, 
< L. sibilare, LL. also sifilare, < sibilus, hissing : 
see sibilate.'] To breathe or blow with a softly 
sibilant sound ; whistle ; hiss. 
After the sesoun of somer wyth the soft wyndez, 
Quen jeferus syftez hym-self on sedez & erbez. 
Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. S.), I. 517. 
siffle (sif'l), n. [< siffle, v.~] A sibilant rale. 
See rdle. 
sifflementt (sif'1-ment), w, [< OF. (and F.) 
sifflemmt, < siffler, whistle : see siffle, .] The 
act of whistling or hissing; a whistling, or a 
whistle-like sound. 
Like to the winged chanters of the wood, 
Uttering nought else but idle statements. 
A. Brewer (?), Lingua, i. 1. 
Sifflet (sif 'let), n. [< F. sifflet, < siffler, whistle : 
see siffle, v,~] A whistle or cat-call sometimes 
used in playhouses. 
siffleur (si-fler'), . [F.: name given by Cana- 
dian voyagenrs.] The whistler, or hoary mar- 
mot, Arctomys pruinostis. 
Sifflot (sifflet), . [With accom. term, (as if < 
G. flote, flute), < F. siffloter, whistle, < siffler, 
whistle: see siffle, v.~] In musiCj a whistle-flute ; 
in the organ, a flute-stop having a whistling 
tone. 
sift (sift), v. [< ME. siften, syftcn, < AS. siftan, 
syftan = MD. siften, D. ziften = LG. siften, MLG. 
LG. also sieJtten (> G. sichten = Dan. sigte = Sw. 
sikta = Icel. sikta, sigta), sift (whence Dan. 
xii/tc = Sw. sikta, a sieve) ; connected with sife, 
sibi, a sieve: see sieve.] I. trans. 1. To cause 
the finer parts of to pass through a sieve ; part 
or separate the larger and smaller elements of, 
by shaking in a sieve; bolt: as, to sift meal, 
powder, sand, or lime ; to sift the flour from the 
bran. 
Sigalphus 
I saw about this place, as well as on the spot of the 
antient Arsinoe, near Faiume, the people sijtiny the sand 
in order to find seals and medals. 
Pococke, Description of the East, L 58. 
2. To pass or shake through or from anything 
in the manner of a sieve ; pour out or stir up 
loosely, like particles falling from a sieve: as, 
to aift sand through the lingers; to sift sugar 
upon a cake. 
When yellow sands are sifted from below, 
The glitt'ring billows give a golden show. 
Dryden. 
When you mix two gases together and then pass them 
through a thin piece of blacklead, the lightest gas comes 
out quickest, and is as it were sifted from the other. 
W. K. Cli/ord, Lectures, 1. 176. 
The deepest pathos of Phoebe's voice and song, more- 
over, came sifted through the golden texture of a cheery 
spirit, and was somehow interfused with the quality 
thence acquired. Hawthorne, Seven Gables, ix. 
3. To act upon or about as if by means of a 
sieve ; examine with close scrutiny ; subject to 
minute analysis : used with a great variety of 
applications : sometimes with out: as, to sift the 
good from the bad ; to sift out the truth of the 
matter ; to sift a proposition. 
As near as I could sift him on that argument. 
Shale., Eich. II., i. 1. 12. 
The actions of men in high stations are all conspicuous, 
and liable to be scanned and sifted. 
Bp. Atterbury, Sermons, I. xiii. 
You must speak with this wench, Rat this Erne Deans 
you must sift her a wee bit. 
Scott, Heart of Mid-Lothian, xvii. 
A confused mass of testimony, which he did not sift, 
which he did not even read. Macaulay, Warren Hastings. 
= Syn. 1. Sift, Bolt, Strain, Screen. Sift is used especially 
of action by means of a sieve, or of anything serving as a 
sieve, as an independent instrument ; bolt, of the separa- 
tion of meal and bran, or of the different grades of meal or 
flour, or the like, by the mechanism of a mill. Strain and 
screen are used of analogous action upon liquids and 
coarser solids. 
II. intrans. 1. To pass or fall loosely or scat- 
teringly, as if through the meshes of a sieve: 
as, the dust or the snow sifted through the 
crevices; the light sifts from the clouds. 2. 
To practise detailed scrutiny or investigation ; 
make close examination. 
With many a courtly wile she pry'd and sifted, 
His parentage and family to find. 
J. Beaumont, Psyche, i. 150. 
sift(sift),. [<sift, v. .] Something that falls 
or passes as if from the meshes of a sieve ; sift- 
ing or sifted material. [Bare.] 
sifter (sifter), n. [< sift + -erl.] 1. One who 
sifts, in any sense; especially, one employed in 
the operation of sifting loose matter. 
Though the stile nothing delight the daintie eare of the 
curious sifter. Lyly, Euphues, Anat. of Wit, p. 204. 
In a dust-yard lately visited the sifters formed a curi- 
ous sight ; they were almost up to their middle in dust, 
ranged in a semi-circle in front of that part of the heap 
which was being worked. 
Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, II. 191. 
2. A sieve, particularly one differing in form 
and use from the common sieve, as for sorting 
matter of differing sizes, sifting ashes from 
partly burned coal, or the like. An ash-sifler is usu- 
ally square or oblong, provided with a handle and some- 
times a cover, and shaken over a box or barrel. 
3. pi. Specifically, in ornitk., the lamellirostral 
birds, as ducks and geese ; sievebeaks. 
Sifting (sifting), n. [Verbal n. of sift, .] A 
searching or investigating. 
Sifting-machine (sif'ting-ma-shen"), ii. In 
paper-manuf., a sieve-plate. 
Slg 1 (sig), v. A dialectal form of sie 1 . 
Sig2 (sig), n. [< sig 1 , ?.] Urine; stale urine. 
[Prov. Eng. and New Eng.] 
Sigalphinae (sig-al-fi'ne), . pi. [NL., < Sigal- 
phus + -inse.~] A subfamily of hymenopter- 
ous parasites of the family Braconidx, division 
Cryptogastres, typified by the genus Sigalphus, 
and containing only this genus and Allodorus. 
Sigalphus (si-gal'f us), n. [NL. (Latreille, 1804) ; 
formation not obvious.] A genus of hymenop- 
terous parasites, typical of the subfamily Sigal- 
Sigalfhus curculionis. 
ei, larva ; e, cocoon ; /, pupa. (Hair-lines show 
phinse, having the fourth and fifth abdominal 
segments concealed under the carapace. Twelve 
