The word "筛除" is formed by combining the character "筛", meaning "to sift" or "sieve", with the character "除", meaning "to remove" or "eliminate". Together, they create a compound verb where "筛" denotes the method of filtering, and "除" specifies the action of removal, resulting in the literal meaning "to sift out" or "to filter out", referring to the process of separating and discarding unwanted elements.