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  

/ saɪˈfɒnɪk, 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

After acquiring several small life-insurance companies, they charged, Lindberg orchestrated a scheme to siphon at least $2 billion from their books to companies he controlled, using a web of loans involving affiliated entities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

The judge described the diversion of public funds as a gross abuse of public trust and said proxy companies and associates were used to siphon money from the projects.

From BBC ● May 20, 2026

Prosecutors say that Williamson, Becerra’s then-chief of staff Sean McCluskie and lobbyist Greg Campbell took part in a scheme to siphon money from Becerra’s dormant campaign account and funnel it to McCluskie.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

The more you siphon out today, the more you reduce your IRA and future corresponding RMDs.

From Barron's ● May 9, 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

It is part of a growing chorus of online media companies expressing frustration with the tech giant as AI changes the way people ask questions, siphons off search traffic and upends publishers’ revenue models.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

DWR has also initiated a program to provide more pumps and siphons for local agencies that have maximized their ability to divert water for recharge, including the Fresno Irrigation District, Nemeth said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2023

Scientists initially blamed this crucial ecosystem’s die-off solely on an unusually strong El Niño, a weather pattern that periodically siphons water away from the western Pacific and lowers local tides.

From Scientific American ● Dec. 1, 2022

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

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

Instead, he siphoned the money into a personal slush fund, leased a Manhattan apartment, renovated a lakefront property and spent $3,000 on a birthday dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant, according to the indictment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

I stayed in the line longer than I expected, before they siphoned me off.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

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

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

To advocates and education unions, such maneuvers amounted to improper or possibly illegal siphoning — and that’s one detail they were watching for Thursday.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

Arbitration has also become a massive phenomenon, siphoning countless cases off from the courts into a shadowy, opaque system that nobody can ever truly fully observe.

From Slate ● Apr. 27, 2026

The three companies—DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and MiniMax—prompted Claude more than 16 million times, siphoning information from Anthropic’s system to train and improve their own products, Anthropic said in a blog post Monday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026

Hermione pulled it toward her and began siphoning the ink off with her wand.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling