Strainer \Strain"er\, n.

1. One who strains.

2. That through which any liquid is passed for purification or to separate it from solid matter; anything, as a screen or a cloth, used to strain a liquid; a device of the character of a sieve or of a filter; specifically, an openwork or perforated screen, as for the end of the suction pipe of a pump, to prevent large solid bodies from entering with a liquid.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)