Meaning & use

siphon

noun·Academic

A bent tube used to draw liquid up and over the edge of one container and into another using pressure.

See it in a sentence

He used a rubber siphon to drain the gasoline from the old lawn mower's tank.

A siphon carries water from the reservoir down into the pipes without any pump.

A note on using this word

Siphon is also commonly used as a verb meaning to draw off liquid, or figuratively money, gradually and often secretly.

Words with a similar meaning

tubepipe

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Another way to use it

2. verb

To draw off liquid using a tube, or to divert money or resources gradually and often improperly.

Investigators found that the manager had siphoned thousands of dollars from the company account.

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