Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
💧 To draw off liquid 🐚 A water tube 🧪 A bent tube
to siphon

to siphon

43 6.0
To move liquid from one container to another using a tube and gravity
  • verb
  • /ˈsaɪfən/
translation icon : sifonar
  • The phone company AT&T had agreed to let them siphon off the traffic that was moving through their cables.
  • siphon off money
  • siphon off funds
  • siphon away funds

I know his kids and all this shit and the guy's siphoning cash out the back door.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • I bet I could siphon gas from my car to yours.

    Enter Nowhere (2015)

  • I used a hose to siphon the water from the pool into the garden.

  • If you've got a gas can, you can siphon some from me.

    The Ice Harvest (2005)

  • We siphoned your gas while you were passed out.

    Cars (2006)

  • But I'm just going to siphon off, I don't know, about half a jar full here.

  • Reports from government troops talk of the field situation being so bad... ...that soldiers are having to siphon gas from jeep to jeep... ...in order to be able to get the wounded back to the capital.

    The Killing Fields (1984)

  • Civic services have broken down, developmental projects have ceased, public funding has been siphoned off, and local industries have collapsed.

    Academic text (2009)

  • A team of powerful engines pumped water siphoned off from the Chattahoochee to a reservoir station four miles south.

    Academic text (2010)

  • So what we actually do is we siphon off a portion of the gas inside the main chamber and that's what actually drives our turbo pump.

  • The workers had to siphon fuel from the tank to prevent a spill.

Synonyms

to drain
vsto siphon
198 1.0

To let liquid flow away from something

moves liquid actively by a tube using suction or gravity instead of passive outflow
to funnel
vsto siphon
69 4.1

To move something through a narrow opening or channel into one place

transfers between places using a tube and suction or gravity rather than narrowing
to siphon gas
vsto siphon
  • US
3 7.6

To take gas from a car or container into another using a tube

applies to liquids in general not only gasoline via tube and gravity
to siphon off
vsto siphon
2 6.6

To move liquid or money from one place to another slowly and often secretly

moves liquid by a tube using suction or gravity not secret taking
to sluice
vsto siphon
  • Specialized
1 7.4

To let water flow through a gate to move or wash things away

transfers by tube using suction or gravity rather than gate flow
to siphon water
vsto siphon
1 5.2

To move water through a tube from one place to another by letting it flow down

does this generally for liquids using suction or gravity

Phrasal Verbs

to siphon off
5 7.9

To secretly take money from a business or charity for your own use

to siphon gas
  • US
3 7.6

To take gas from a car or container into another using a tube

to siphon off
2 6.6

To move liquid or money from one place to another slowly and often secretly

to siphon water
1 5.2

To move water through a tube from one place to another by letting it flow down

How Much

to empty
179 1.0
to draw off
1 4.9
to siphon
43 6.0
to leak
212 1.0

Surface Forms

siphon infinitive
siphoned past
siphoned past participle
siphoning present participle
siphons third person singular

Etymology

The verb siphon comes from the noun siphon, a word for a tube, so to 'siphon' something is to move it with a tube from one place to another. That's why we say people 'siphon' fuel or water when they take it out using a tube.