siphon

plural siphons · alternative syphon

1. 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.

   The asserted fact that free hydrochloric acid is absent from the fluid removed by a siphon in cases of cancer of the stomach has been lately much discussed in Germany, and Dr Van der Welden, of Strassburg, introduced an alcoholic solution of tropæolin as a test with this object.

   1891, Charles Hilton Fagge, Philip Henry Pye-Smith, Text‐book of the Principles and Practice of Medicine, volume II, page 199

2. A soda siphon.
3. biologyA tubelike organ found in animals or elongated cell found in plants.

   As a result, although corbinas commonly utilize mollusks, they are limited to the siphons, foot, or other soft parts that either extend from the shell or can be picked from it.

   1962, Fish Bulletin, numbers 118-130, Department of Fish and Game, page 48

present singular third person siphons · participle present siphoning · participle past siphoned · past siphoned · alternative syphon

1. transitiveTo transfer (liquid) by means of a siphon.

   He used a rubber tube to siphon petrol from the car's fuel tank.

2. broadlytransitiveTo transfer directly.

   Today's teenagers are siphoning dangerous levels of membrane-damaging noise directly into their eardrums, with long-term effects that otologists prophesy will be disastrous for their hearing and lead to an epidemic of middle-aged deafness in the next thirty years.

   2012 Sep, Rupert Christiansen, “Quiet, Please”, in Literary Review

3. figurativelyoftentransitiveTo steal or skim off something, such as money, in small amounts; to embezzle.

   Attempting to “unfeel” whatever you feel is a huge drain on your energy, and that effort can siphon off the power you need to crunch your problem.

   2010, John Townsend, Now What Do I Do?

   2 more examples

   In Juchipila power to the whole community of thirty thousand evaporated as the supraheavy grid buried alongside the little mountain cantina siphoned energy from the entire west-central portion of the Namerican national power net.

   2009, Alan Dean Foster, Montezuma Strip, →ISBN

   Artiles, a Republican operative with a reputation for a foul mouth and sharp elbows, is accused of financing a sham candidate whose candidacy was intended to siphon votes from a legitimate Democratic candidate in a state Senate race in South Florida’s 37th District. The candidate has the same last name as then-Democratic incumbent Jose Javier Rodriguez but did not actively campaign for the seat and has since admitted being recruited as a spoiler.

   2021 March 18, Scott Glover, Curt Devine, Audrey Ash, “Former Florida state senator charged in spoiler candidate scheme”, in CNN, archived from the original on 05 Jul 2022

   Synonyms: misappropriate