funnel
Americannoun
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funnels
plural
-
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.
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Eastern New England. a stovepipe.
verb (used with object)
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funnels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
funneled,
past participle, past
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funnelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
funneling,
present participle
-
funnelling
present participle (especially British)
-
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)
-
funnels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
funneled,
past participle, past
-
funnelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
funneling,
present participle
-
funnelling
present participle (especially British)
noun
-
a hollow utensil with a wide mouth tapering to a small hole, used for pouring liquids, powders, etc, into a narrow-necked vessel
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something resembling this in shape or function
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a smokestack for smoke and exhaust gases, as on a steamship or steam locomotive
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a shaft or tube, as in a building, for ventilation
verb
-
to move or cause to move or pour through or as if through a funnel
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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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
funnelsimple
-
funnelssimple
-
have funneledperfect
-
have funnelledperfect
-
has funneledperfect
-
has funnelledperfect
-
am funnelingprogressive
-
am funnellingprogressive
-
are funnelingprogressive
-
are funnellingprogressive
-
is funnelingprogressive
-
is funnellingprogressive
-
have been funnelingperfect progressive
-
have been funnellingperfect progressive
-
has been funnelingperfect progressive
-
has been funnellingperfect progressive
Past
-
funneledsimple
-
funnelledsimple
-
had funneledperfect
-
had funnelledperfect
-
was funnelingprogressive
-
was funnellingprogressive
-
were funnelingprogressive
-
were funnellingprogressive
-
had been funnelingperfect progressive
-
had been funnellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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
Explanation
The cone-shaped tool you use to pour liquid into a small hole is a funnel. The swirling winds of a tornado make the shape of a funnel. This is why they are called funnel clouds. You can also use the word metaphorically to describe something that goes from wide to narrow while moving. If six lanes of traffic must funnel through a tunnel, you'll probably see a traffic jam. And if you photographed the scene from above, the cars would make a triangular shape, as if they formed a flat funnel. If a company is funneling money into research and development, it is spending lots of money in that department. Funnel cake is made by pouring batter through a funnel in to hot oil. Yum!
Vocabulary lists containing funnel
Words to Know Before You Defrost the Bird
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Pestle, Sieve, and Whisk: Useful Words for Cooking Tools
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Seedfolks
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
These areas are used to strong winds at this time of year but if the windy conditions funnel through the central lowlands there could be some disruption.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
We had a probably bit of aluminum foil and I had a funnel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
Professional-services firms have historically relied on a pyramid-based model, where scores of junior employees funnel their work up to more senior partners who have been promoted based on tenure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Specifically, the court noted that existing disclosure laws and rules about earmarking donations already act as disincentives for donors hoping to use parties as a means to indirectly funnel money to candidates.
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026
“Hey, want to go get a candy apple and a funnel cake and help me celebrate? Colton and his dad are around here somewhere. Mom’s searching for a free table.”
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
But versatility is also a lost art — collateral damage during the construction of the pipeline that directly funnels social media stars to the screen.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026
A more moderate Santa Ana wind event typically funnels gusts through canyons, but isn’t powerful enough to climb mountains.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025
Marketing shifted from campaign bursts to always‑on funnels and A/B testing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 22, 2025
Palantir began as a defense contractor and has since found other customers selling a platform that funnels data into simple dashboards that use artificial intelligence to aid decision-making.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2025
Even Admiral Boom had been known to envy Miss Lark her wonderful house, though his own had ship’s funnels instead of chimneys and a flagstaff in the front garden.
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
Earlier this year, Lewin funneled $3.8 billion to a small arm of the United Nations, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, quadrupling the budget of the agency.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
He funneled his fascination into a science-fiction YouTube series about a seemingly endless universe where mundanity meets monsters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
Those institutional orders will get funneled through S&P Global’s Equity Bookbuild platform.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
This evolution was thanks to a daring business move from Huang, who funneled the profits Nvidia generated from its gaming business to develop a software layer called Compute Unified Device Architecture, or CUDA.
From MarketWatch ● May 23, 2026
The air whirred with the wingbeats of weaverbirds, flashing bright yellow as they fussed over their funneled nests in branches overhanging the water.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Every attack was funnelled out wide before a hopeful cross was delivered and cleared in what was essentially a set-piece defending drill.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Much of England's creative work under Tuchel is funnelled through Anderson and Kane, but Ghana's players went man to man to keep them quiet.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
Spurs ultimately funnelled Villa's play down the middle while also setting up to have numerous players in that area of the pitch.
From BBC ● May 4, 2026
Millions more were funnelled into art by Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh, a private jet, and the production of the Hollywood movie "The Wolf of Wall Street" by Najib's stepson.
From Barron's ● Dec. 25, 2025
Money was funnelled into the country through trade union connections.
From Civilization and Beyond Learning from History by Scott Nearing
By funneling income and investment toward export industries and away from consumers, this depresses consumption and expands the current account surplus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has complained that Chinese companies are funneling their goods through other countries, such as sending nearly finished clothes through third countries for final touches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
It seems there is possibly a second sponsor, Daktronics, that is funneling money to Kawhi Leonard for doing nothing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Anthropic, despite its push to source as much compute as possible, may decide to stop funneling its cash to a rival.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026
You see it in the slate gray of a pristine Mercedes-Benz, the gray-white fumes funneling out the back, the gray mop of hair of the unsmiling woman at the wheel.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
He said high pressure over Europe was funnelling hot air north from northern Africa, with the weather system hindering cloud formation.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
Those grants and loans, together with the clean energy tax credits that are also part of the IRA, have been funnelling billions of new federal and private dollars into developing clean energy.
From BBC ● May 29, 2025
The expected failure of the bill would mean an existing visa policy, which has been widely accused of exacerbating problems by funnelling most international students to a select few city-based universities, will remain in place.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2024
Helsinki says Moscow is funnelling them to the border, a charge the Kremlin denies.
From Reuters ● Nov. 24, 2023
"It's all right fellows," he roared down the shaft, funnelling his hands.
From The Freebooters of the Wilderness by Agnes C. (Agnes Christina) Laut
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
