funnel
a cone-shaped utensil with a tube at the apex for conducting liquid or other substance through a small opening, as into a bottle, jug, or the like.
a smokestack, especially of a steamship.
a flue, tube, or shaft, as for ventilation.
Eastern New England. a stovepipe.
to concentrate, channel, or focus: They funneled all income into research projects.
to pour through or as if through a funnel.
to pass through or as if through a funnel.
Origin of funnel
1Other words from funnel
- fun·nel·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use funnel in a sentence
Another reason to keep an upper hand: Russia also funnels oil to Europe via a pipeline that runs directly through Ukraine.
Create a public jobs program that funnels the unemployed to fast growing areas such as at-home health care and child care.
While the test is somewhat tedious, all the manipulations are simple and require no apparatus but flasks, test-tubes, and funnels.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddThe catillus (E) itself was shaped something like an hourglass, or two funnels joined at the neck.
The Private Life of the Romans | Harold Whetstone JohnstonThe two yellow funnels, the cut of the hull, told Ponting what she was.
The Beach of Dreams | H. De Vere Stacpoole
In order even to see the masts and funnels of the ship one has to go far forward or far aft and crane one's neck upward.
America To-day, Observations and Reflections | William ArcherHer funnels showed most clearly, making sharply defined black daubs on the heaving desert of froth.
The Pillar of Light | Louis Tracy
British Dictionary definitions for funnel
/ (ˈfʌnəl) /
a hollow utensil with a wide mouth tapering to a small hole, used for pouring liquids, powders, etc, into a narrow-necked vessel
something resembling this in shape or function
a smokestack for smoke and exhaust gases, as on a steamship or steam locomotive
a shaft or tube, as in a building, for ventilation
to move or cause to move or pour through or as if through a funnel
to concentrate or focus or be concentrated or focused in a particular direction: they funnelled their attention on the problem
(intr) to take on a funnel-like shape
Origin of funnel
1Derived forms of funnel
- funnel-like, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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