saau1 gei1筲箕
Jyutpingsaau1 gei1
Yalesāau gēi
Definition
Strainer, colander, or basket woven from bamboo or plastic strips with small holes for filtering.
colloquialhomefood
How it's used
Traditionally woven from bamboo strips, this item is a staple in older Hong Kong kitchens for washing vegetables or draining noodles. While modern plastic versions are now common, the term remains strongly associated with the classic round, shallow design. It is also frequently used in the idiom 筲箕洗米, which describes a situation where things leak out as fast as they are put in.
Measure word
go3個goExamples
Take out the strainer to drain the water.
Related words
Common phrases
to have a sieve-like memory or to be unable to hold onto money
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 篩, which is a finer mesh sieve used for sifting flour or powder. A 筲箕 is specifically for larger items like vegetables or pasta.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
