funnel

[fuhn-l]

noun

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.

verb (used with object), fun·neled, fun·nel·ing or (especially British) fun·nelled, fun·nel·ling.

to concentrate, channel, or focus: They funneled all income into research projects.
to pour through or as if through a funnel.

verb (used without object), fun·neled, fun·nel·ing or (especially British) fun·nelled, fun·nel·ling.

to pass through or as if through a funnel.

Origin of funnel

1375–1425; late Middle English fonel < Old Provençal fonilh (Gascon) < Vulgar Latin *fundibulum, for Latin infundibulum, derivative of infundere to pour in

Related formsfun·nel·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for funnels

pour, filter, transmit, siphon, channel, move, pipe, convey, conduct, carry, pass, traject

Examples from the Web for funnels

Contemporary Examples of funnels

Another reason to keep an upper hand: Russia also funnels oil to Europe via a pipeline that runs directly through Ukraine.
Up to Speed: What’s Going on in Ukraine?
Nina Strochlic
February 19, 2014
Create a public jobs program that funnels the unemployed to fast growing areas such as at-home health care and child care.
How I'd Create Jobs
The Daily Beast
December 7, 2009

Historical Examples of funnels

Smoke belching black from her funnels, the monster was beginning to move.
The Harbor
Ernest Poole
This gave the Emden four funnels, such as the Yarmouth carried.
The Story of the Great War, Volume II (of VIII)
Various
It will be convenient to have several of these funnels of different sizes.
Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air
Joseph Priestley
Above him towered one of the funnels, before him a long, slender mast.
The Girl on the Boat
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
She did not appear to be a steamer because she had no funnels.
The World Peril of 1910
George Griffith

British Dictionary definitions for funnels

funnel

noun

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

verb -nels, nelling or -nelled or US -nels, -neling or -neled

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 directionthey funnelled their attention on the problem
(intr) to take on a funnel-like shape

Derived Formsfunnel-like, adjective

Word Origin for funnel

C15: from Old Provençal fonilh, ultimately from Latin infundibulum funnel, hopper (in a mill), from infundere to pour in

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

Word Origin and History for funnels

funnel

c.1400, from Middle French fonel, from Provençal enfounilh, "a word from the Southern wine trade" [Weekley], from Late Latin fundibulum, shortened from Latin infundibulum "a funnel or hopper in a mill," from infundere "pour in," from in- "in" + fundere "pour" (see found (v.2)).

funnel

1590s, from funnel (n.). Related: Funneled; funneling.