Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A bowl-shaped kitchen utensil with perforations for draining off liquids and rinsing food.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A vessel of hair, wicker, or metal, with a bottom, or bottom and sides, perforated with little holes to allow liquids to run off, as in washing vegetables or straining curds, separating the juices from fruits or the liquor from oysters, etc.; a strainer.
  • noun A perforated hemispherical vessel used in casting shot.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A utensil with a bottom perforated with little holes for straining liquids, mashed vegetable pulp, etc.; a strainer of wickerwork, perforated metal, or the like.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A bowl-shaped kitchen utensil with holes in it used for draining food such as pasta.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun bowl-shaped strainer; used to wash or drain foods

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English colyndore; probably from a Romance source akin to Old Provençal colador, strainer, from Vulgar Latin *cōlātōr, from Latin cōlātus, past participle of cōlāre, to strain; see percolate.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English colyndore and Old Provençal colador ("strainer").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word colander.

Examples

  • Place the plumped lentils in colander and fold the cloth over them.

    Archive 2005-06-01 Nupur 2005

  • Georgette recommends using two coffee filters inside a colander, which is placed inside a bowl to catch the liquid, or there are inexpensive mesh yogurt strainers you can buy.

    World's Best Tzatziki Sauce Recipe - Greek Yogurt and Cucumber Sauce Kalyn Denny 2007

  • Georgette recommends using two coffee filters inside a colander, which is placed inside a bowl to catch the liquid, or there are inexpensive mesh yogurt strainers you can buy.

    Archive 2007-07-01 Kalyn Denny 2007

  • I prefer a colander, which is also good for straining spagetti though one should remove it from your head first.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • I prefer a colander, which is also good for straining spagetti though one should remove it from your head first.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • I prefer a colander, which is also good for straining spagetti though one should remove it from your head first.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • I prefer a colander, which is also good for straining spagetti though one should remove it from your head first.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • I prefer a colander, which is also good for straining spagetti though one should remove it from your head first.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • I prefer a colander, which is also good for straining spagetti though one should remove it from your head first.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • I prefer a colander, which is also good for straining spagetti though one should remove it from your head first.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.