siphon
/ˈsaɪfən/
siphon 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
siphon (plural siphons)
- 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
- A soda siphon.
- A 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
Verb
siphon (third-person singular simple present siphons, present participle siphoning, simple past and past participle siphoned)
- To transfer (liquid) by means of a siphon.
- He used a rubber tube to siphon petrol from the car's fuel tank.
- To 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
- To steal or skim off something, such as money, in small amounts; to embezzle.
- 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
- 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?
- Synonyms:
- misappropriate
siphon meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Kannada and Arabic
siphon in Tamil
- இயலழுத்த வடிவகுழாய், உறிஞ்சு வடிகுழாய், வடி குழாய், ஓட்டுகுழாய், நீரிறக்கி, வடிகுழாய்
siphon in Bengali
- সাইফন, বাঁকানো নল
siphon in Kannada
- ಇಳಿ ಗೊಳವೆ, ಬಾಗು ಕೊಳವೆ, ವಕ್ರನಾಳ, ಸೈಫನ್ನು, ಎಳೆಕೊಳವಿ, ಇಳಿಗೊಳವೆಯ ಮೂಲಕ ಹರಿಸು
siphon in Arabic
- bent pipe or tube with one end lower than the other
- سِيفُون sīfūn
More languagesFewer languages
- siphon in Persian
- سیفون sifon, آببرا âb-barâ, آبشویه âb-šôye
- siphon in Thai
- กาลักน้ำ gaa-lák-náam
Examples of siphon in a sentence
- Landman concluded that scaphites probably didn't have muscular arms or a strong siphon.
- Sliding glass windows opened so the hummingbirds could flit through, siphoning nectar from the cut ginger lilies.
- “Sorry old chap—keep your hair on—but surely you knew just about everyone was siphoning off the odd bit, here and there?”
Synonyms of siphon
Forms of siphon
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | siphons |
| alternative form | syphon |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | siphons |
| present participle | siphoning |
| past participle | siphoned |
| past | siphoned |
Origin of siphon
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.
Words formed from siphon
- antisiphon
- jet siphon
- microsiphon
- prosiphon
- pseudosiphon
- siphonage
- siphonal
- siphonate
- siphon condenser
- siphon cup
- siphoner
- siphonet
- siphonic
- siphoniferous
- siphoniform
- siphonless
- siphonlike
- siphonostele
- siphonous
- siphon recorder
- thermic siphon
- thermosiphon
- resiphon
- siphonable
- siphon the python
- unsiphoned
Phrases with siphon
Words that rhyme with siphon
Questions about siphon
- What does siphon mean?
- Siphon means 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.
- What is siphon in Tamil?
- Siphon in Tamil is இயலழுத்த வடிவகுழாய், உறிஞ்சு வடிகுழாய், வடி குழாய். See Siphon meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is siphon?
- Siphon can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce siphon?
- Siphon is pronounced /ˈsaɪfən/.
- What is the plural of siphon?
- The plural of siphon is siphons.
Words near siphon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: siphon (page history and authors); siphon (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); siphon (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); siphon (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). 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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-siphon.wav.
Cite this entry: “siphon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/siphon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.