SIPHON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does siphon mean? 

• SIPHON (noun)
  The noun SIPHON has 2 senses:

1. a tube running from the liquid in a vessel to a lower level outside the vessel so that gravity forces the liquid through the tube

2. a tubular organ in an aquatic animal (especially in mollusks) through which water can be taken in or expelled

  Familiarity information: SIPHON used as a noun is rare.

• SIPHON (verb)
  The verb SIPHON has 2 senses:

1. convey, draw off, or empty by or as if by a siphon

2. move a liquid from one container into another by means of a siphon or a siphoning action

  Familiarity information: SIPHON used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SIPHON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A tube running from the liquid in a vessel to a lower level outside the vessel so that gravity forces the liquid through the tube

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

siphon; syphon

Hypernyms ("siphon" is a kind of...):

tube; tubing (conduit consisting of a long hollow object (usually cylindrical) used to hold and conduct objects or liquids or gases)

Derivation:

siphon (move a liquid from one container into another by means of a siphon or a siphoning action)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A tubular organ in an aquatic animal (especially in mollusks) through which water can be taken in or expelled

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

siphon; syphon

Hypernyms ("siphon" is a kind of...):

organ (a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function)

Domain category:

zoological science; zoology (the branch of biology that studies animals)

• SIPHON (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they siphon    ... he / she / it siphons   
Past simple: siphoned   
Past participle: siphoned   
-ing form: siphoning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Convey, draw off, or empty by or as if by a siphon

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

siphon; siphon off; syphon

Hypernyms (to "siphon" is one way to...):

draw; take out (take liquid out of a container or well)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move a liquid from one container into another by means of a siphon or a siphoning action

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

siphon gas into the tank

Hypernyms (to "siphon" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

The women siphon water into the bowl

Derivation:

siphon (a tube running from the liquid in a vessel to a lower level outside the vessel so that gravity forces the liquid through the tube)

 Context examples 

The ice giant Uranus appears to be losing a bit of its atmosphere to space, perhaps siphoned away by the planet's magnetic field.

(The ice giant Uranus appears to be losing a bit of its atmosphere to space, NASA)

All of the gas was siphoned from D99 between 500 million and 1 billion years ago.

(Hubble Sees Plunging Galaxy Losing Its Gas, NASA)

Unlike stars like our sun, collapsed dead stars that belong to stellar pairs, or binaries, can siphon matter from their companions.

(NASA's NuSTAR Captures Possible 'Screams' from Zombie Stars, NASA)

Sometimes when Jupiter is in the seventh house, your partner will siphon the good fortune and money from you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Famously, species of tit learned how to pierce milk bottle lids and siphon the cream during the middle of last century – a phenomenon that spread rapidly through flocks across the UK.

(Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours, University of Cambridge)

On it stood a silver tray of smokables and a burnished spirit-stand, from which and an adjacent siphon my silent host proceeded to charge two high glasses.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The artificial photosynthetic unit inside the capsule is made up of a light absorber coated with catalysts that convert the carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide, which can be siphoned off and used as a basis for the creation of various synthetic fuels.

(Artificial Leaves Convert CO2 to Fuel 10 Times More Efficient Than Nature, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)