sieve of Eratosthenes
noun phraseDefinition of sieve of Eratosthenes
: a procedure for finding prime numbers that involves writing down the odd numbers from 2 up in succession and crossing out every third number after 3, every fifth after 5 including those already crossed out, every seventh after 7, and so on with the numbers that are never crossed out being prime
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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Time Traveler for sieve of Eratosthenes
The first known use of sieve of Eratosthenes was in 1803
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