funnel

UK/ˈfʌnəl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England/ˈfʊnəl/

funnel noun: a utensil in the shape of an inverted hollow cone terminating in a narrow pipe, for channeling liquids or granular material; typically used when transferring said substances from any container into ones with a significantly smaller opening. Also the ellipsis of purchase funnel.

Image: Donovan Govan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

funnel (plural funnels)

A utensil in the shape of an inverted hollow cone terminating in a narrow pipe, for channeling liquids or granular material; typically used when transferring said substances from any container into ones with a significantly smaller opening.
A passage or avenue for a fluid or flowing substance; specifically, a smoke flue or pipe; the chimney of a steamship or the like.

Verb

funnel (third-person singular simple present funnels, present participle (US) funneling or (UK) funnelling, simple past and past participle (US) funneled or (UK) funnelled)

(transitive) To use a funnel.
(intransitive) To proceed through a narrow gap or passageway akin to a funnel; to condense or narrow.
- Expect delays where the traffic funnels down to one lane.
- A line of clocks in our cheap hotel displays the time in Lagos, Bucharest, Kiev: the capitals of pilgrims who come to kneel at the birthplace of Christ. In reality the entire world funnels through the Church of the Nativity.2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)https://web.archive.org/web/20150212214621/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/pilgrim-roads/salopek-text
(transitive) To channel, direct, or focus (emotions, money, resources, etc.).
- Our taxes are being funnelled into pointless government initiatives.
- Like so many others, I was awestruck by the first season, which captured a moment in time and successfully funnelled its rage outwards at a world in which women are indeed silenced, controlled and killed by men.2018 June 16, Fiona Sturges, “Cattleprods! Severed tongues! Torture porn! Why I’ve stopped watching the Handmaid’s Tale”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media...
(transitive) To consume (beer, etc.) rapidly through a funnel, typically as a stunt at a party.
- The first time he did it was to this freshman Kevin Ryers and we all just burst out laughing, watching Kevin try to funnel a beer.2013, Jonathan Caren, The Recommendation, page 31

Also used as

funnel is also the ellipsis of purchase funnel.

funnel is also the ellipsis of funnel cloud.

funnel is also the alternative form of fummel.

funnel meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Telugu

funnel in Hindi

utensil used to guide poured liquids: कीप kīp

funnel in Marathi

फनेल, फनल

funnel in Bengali

ফানেল, ফনেল

funnel in Telugu

utensil used to guide poured liquids: గరాటు garāṭu

More languagesFewer languages

funnel in Punjabi: ਫ਼ਨਲ, ਫਨਲ, ਫੁੰਨਲ
funnel in Gujarati: ફનલ
funnel in Odia: ଫନେଲ
funnel in Nepali: फनेल, फनल, फुनेल
funnel in Tagalog: embudo, brukal
funnel in Arabic: قِمْع qimʕ
funnel in Malay: corong
funnel in Indonesian: corong
funnel in Persian: قیف qif, بتو batu, خوهن xuahn, ترجهاله tarjehāle
funnel in Thai: กรวย gruay
funnel in Vietnamese: phễu, quặn
funnel in Myanmar: ကတော့ ka.tau.

Examples of funnel in a sentence

Thick smoke belched through the funnels of the steamship.
I watched a tinsmith hammer out a funnel.
Tomas Montoya has sold festival foods—funnel cakes, burgers, hot dogs—across the American Southwest for years.

All 36 example sentences with funnel

Forms of funnel

Noun
plural	funnels
Verb
third-person singular present	funnels
present participle US	funneling
present participle UK	funnelling
past participle US	funneled
past US	funneled
past participle UK	funnelled
past UK	funnelled

Past tense of funnel: funneled or funnelled

Plural of funnel: funnels

Origin of funnel

From Middle English funell, fonel, probably through Old French *founel (compare Middle French fonel, Old Occitan fonilh, enfounilh), from Latin fundibulum, infundibulum (“funnel”), from infundere (“to pour in”); in (“in”) + fundere (“to pour”); compare Breton founilh (“funnel”), Welsh ffynel (“air hole, chimney”). See fuse.

Phrases with funnel

Words that rhyme with funnel

Questions about funnel

What does funnel mean?: Funnel means a utensil in the shape of an inverted hollow cone terminating in a narrow pipe, for channeling liquids or granular material; typically used when transferring said substances from any container into ones with a significantly smaller opening.
What is funnel in Hindi?: Funnel in Hindi is कीप (kīp). See Funnel meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is funnel?: Funnel can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce funnel?: Funnel is pronounced /ˈfʌnəl/ (UK).
What is the plural of funnel?: The plural of funnel is funnels.

Words near funnel in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: funnel (page history and authors); funnel (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); funnel (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); funnel (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); funnel (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); funnel (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); funnel (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-funnel.ogg.

Cite this entry: “funnel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/funnel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.