"Leaks like a sieve" means that something that should hold a liquid does not work properly.
What does “leaks like a sieve” mean? To answer that question, first let’s explain the meaning of a “sieve“.
A “sieve” is strainer or colander, a kitchen device that has many small holes and that is used to separate smaller particles from larger ones or solids from liquids.
Suppose you are cooking dumplings (饺子). You’d use a sieve to remove the dumpling from the pot and drain any liquid.
A sieve is not supposed to hold liquid. When it works properly, it leaks.
There are times when we want something to retain a liquid or hold back something, but we say that it “leaks like a sieve” as a slang to indicate that it isn’t working properly.
A couple of examples will illustrate the meaning of “leaks like a sieve”.
Example: ”It’s raining cats and dogs outside, and my roof now leaks like a sieve. I’ll need to fix it!”
“People who say that there are too many illegal immigrants from Mexico claim that the US-Mexican border leaks like a sieve.”
Now it is your turn. Try using “leaks like a sieve” in a sentence of your own creation and leave your work in the comment section. I’ll be happy to provide feedback.
Is there a slang phrase in Chinese like “leaks like a sieve”?
VOCABULARY
- colander – a kitchen straining device. Used to hold solid food which was cooked in boiled.
- dumpling – a food similar to 饺子. It has some sort of outer dough-like wrapper with some sort of filling inside.
- retain – to keep or hold
- immigrant – a foreign person who moves to another nation.
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the Chinese for leaks like a sieve is “漏得跟筛子似的”,however which seems not very commonly used in daily conversation,because it is not an idiom or common phrase.
you might say:”It’s raining cats and dogs outside, and my roof now leaks like a sieve”,but we prefer”屋外下大雨，屋内下小雨”.but when it comes to Chinese soccer,I might say”defense looked soft and the offensive line leaked like a sieve”