siphon

American  

[sahy-fuhn] / ˈsaɪ fən /

Or syphon

noun

• siphons
  plural

1. a tube or conduit bent into legs of unequal length, for use in drawing a liquid from one container into another on a lower level by placing the shorter leg into the container above and the longer leg into the one below, the liquid being forced up the shorter leg and into the longer one by the pressure of the atmosphere.

2. siphon bottle.

3. a projecting tubular part of some animals, especially certain mollusks, through which liquid enters or leaves the body.

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verb (used with or without object)

• siphons,
  present (3rd person singular)
• siphoned,
  past participle,  past
• siphoning
  present participle

1. to convey, draw, or pass through or as if through a siphon (sometimes followed by off ).

   to siphon water; to siphon off profits into a secret bank account.

siphon British  

/ ˈsaɪfən /

noun

1. a tube placed with one end at a certain level in a vessel of liquid and the other end outside the vessel below this level, so that liquid pressure forces the liquid through the tube and out of the vessel by gravity

2. See soda siphon

3. zoology any of various tubular organs in different aquatic animals, such as molluscs and elasmobranch fishes, through which a fluid, esp water, passes

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verb

1. (often foll by off) to pass or draw off through or as if through a siphon

siphon Scientific  

/ sī′fən /

1. A pipe or tube in the form of an upside-down U, filled with liquid and arranged so that the pressure of the atmosphere forces liquid to flow upward from a container through the tube, over a barrier, and into a lower container.

2. A tubular animal part, as of a clam, through which water is taken in or expelled.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• siphonage
  noun
• pseudosiphonal
  adjective
• pseudosiphonic
  adjective
• siphonal
  adjective
• siphonic
  adjective
• siphonless
  adjective
• siphonlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• siphons
  plural

Participles

• siphoning
  present
• siphoned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• siphon
  simple
• siphons
  simple
• have siphoned
  perfect
• has siphoned
  perfect
• am siphoning
  progressive
• are siphoning
  progressive
• is siphoning
  progressive
• have been siphoning
  perfect progressive
• has been siphoning
  perfect progressive

Past

• siphoned
  simple
• had siphoned
  perfect
• was siphoning
  progressive
• were siphoning
  progressive
• had been siphoning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will siphon
  simple
• will have siphoned
  perfect
• will be siphoning
  progressive
• will have been siphoning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of siphon

1650–60; < Latin sīphōn- (stem of sīphō ) < Greek síphōn, sī́phōn pipe, tube

Explanation

A siphon is a device used to move liquid from one container to the other. If you're giving your goldfish a magnificent new bowl, you can use a siphon to move the water from the old one to the new. A siphon is a tube running from one container to another that uses gravity to cause liquid to flow. The key is that the container with the liquid has to be at a higher level than the container you’re moving the liquid to. You have to use force to start the initial flow, but after that gravity takes over. We also use siphon as a verb, for the process of emptying. An endless meeting might siphon off all your energy.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

siphon siphons siphoned siphoning

Rising defense and infrastructure costs threaten to siphon away money needed for the economic diversification drive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

He certainly did not have the personality to siphon any fans from a LeBron James-led Lakers team.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

That’s attracted opposition from lobbying groups for banks, which say they’re worried it will siphon away bank deposits.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

A digital bill of rights would be a major part of that by boosting privacy and protecting the level of data that corporations can siphon up about ordinary people.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

Together, they siphon off an enzyme, which stops the production of a certain hormone, which complicates my life.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

This includes the Revolutionary Guard, which siphons about half the revenue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026

From there, the water flowed by gravity, moving at 3-6 mph as it traveled through pipelines, siphons and tunnels.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2025

But it is different from the previously favoured scenario, in which a white dwarf siphons material from a companion.

From Scientific American ● Feb. 1, 2023

Lumley siphons eyelash-size larvae hatched four months ago out of rearing containers and into a small Plexiglass box called a photarium, where they can be evaluated and measured.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 23, 2022

The parasite clamps onto the intestines and siphons nutrients from the body.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

The seizures represent only a small portion of the tens of billions siphoned from Americans each year—but they are growing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

A probe into donations allegedly siphoned off at India's grand Ram temple has renewed scrutiny of how religious sites manage vast amounts of cash and gold entrusted to them by devotees.

From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026

“It kind of siphoned all of that pent-up, closeted stuff that you hold back, that you couldn’t freely express,” she said.

From Slate ● May 4, 2026

Twenty years later, all of the money and power in publishing has been siphoned to the very, very rich.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026

A hundred smithereens of darkness, they broke apart and re-formed and siphoned themselves into a little typhoon that swept down toward the rooftops of Weep, whirling and wheeling on soft twilight wings.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Many have blamed this flood of supply for soaking up liquidity and siphoning capital away from existing publicly traded companies.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

It condemned illegal tapping and siphoning, warning that such activities put lives, the environment and the economy at risk.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

Both OpenAI and Anthropic have accused Chinese companies of siphoning proprietary data to create their own AIs by this process.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

The videos "crowd-out" posts from actual entrepreneurs with Down syndrome, potentially siphoning away business, Rowe said.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

For all of her street smarts, siphoning gas is something she’s clearly never done, and for all of Kelton’s survival skills, he’s useless in this particular pinch.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman