siphon
/ˈsaɪfən/ noun, verb
Forms siphons siphoning siphoned syphon
- noun A bent pipe or tube with one end lower than the other, in which hydrostatic pressure exerted due to the force of gravity moves liquid from one reservoir to another.
- noun A soda siphon.
- noun (botany, zoology) A tubelike organ found in animals or elongated cell found in plants.
- verb (transitive) To transfer (liquid) by means of a siphon. “He used a rubber tube to siphon petrol from the car's fuel tank.”
- verb (transitive, by extension) To transfer directly.
- verb (transitive, figurative, often with "off") To steal or skim off something, such as money, in small amounts; to embezzle.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle French siphon, from Old French sifon, from Latin sīphō, from Ancient Greek σίφων (síphōn, “pipe, tube”), of uncertain origin; possibly related to Latin tibia (“pipe, flute of bone”), with the irregular forms suggesting a non-Indo-European loan source, perhaps of the shape *twi-, *twibh.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A device, consisting of a pipe or tube bent so as to form two branches or legs of unequal length, by which a liquid can be transferred to a lower level, as from one vessel to another, over an intermediate elevation, by the action of the pressure of the atmosphere in forcing the liquid up the shorter branch of the pipe immersed in it, while the continued excess of weight of the liquid in the longer branch (when once filled) causes a continuous flow. The flow takes place only when the discharging extremity of the pipe ia lower than the higher liquid surface, and when no part of the pipe is highe
- noun (a) One of the tubes or folds of the mantle border of a bivalve or gastropod mollusk by which water is conducted into the gill cavity.
- verb To convey, or draw off, by means of a siphon, as a liquid from one vessel to another at a lower level.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “siphon”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details