Siphon Meaning
/ˈsaɪfən/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA bent pipe or tube with one end lower than the other, in which hydrostatic pressure exerted due to the force of gravity moves liquid from one reservoir to another.
nounA soda siphon.
Sentence Examples
Everyday, politicians siphon money from tax-payers.
William used every trick in the book to siphon money from the company.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He used a tube to ____ gasoline from the car's tank into a can.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He used a rubber tube to ____ gasoline from the tank into a small container.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French siphon, from Old French sifon, from Latin sīphō, from Ancient Greek σίφων (síphōn, “pipe, tube”), of uncertain origin; possibly related to Latin tibia (“pipe, flute of bone”), with the irregular forms suggesting a non-Indo-European loan source, perhaps of the shape *twi-, *twibh.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The asserted fact that free hydrochloric acid is absent from the fluid removed by a siphon in cases of cancer of the stomach has been lately much discussed in Germany, and Dr Van der Welden, of Strassburg, introduced an alcoholic solution of tropæolin as a test with this object."
— 1891, Charles Hilton Fagge, Philip Henry Pye-Smith, Text‐book of the Principles and Practice of Medicine, volume II, page 199:
"As a result, although corbinas commonly utilize mollusks, they are limited to the siphons, foot, or other soft parts that either extend from the shell or can be picked from it."
— 1962, Fish Bulletin, numbers 118-130, Department of Fish and Game, page 48:
"Today's teenagers are siphoning dangerous levels of membrane-damaging noise directly into their eardrums, with long-term effects that otologists prophesy will be disastrous for their hearing and lead to an epidemic of middle-aged deafness in the next thirty years."
— 2012 Sep, Rupert Christiansen, “Quiet, Please”, in Literary Review:
"In Juchipila power to the whole community of thirty thousand evaporated as the supraheavy grid buried alongside the little mountain cantina siphoned energy from the entire west-central portion of the Namerican national power net."
— 2009, Alan Dean Foster, Montezuma Strip, →ISBN:
"Attempting to “unfeel” whatever you feel is a huge drain on your energy, and that effort can siphon off the power you need to crunch your problem."
— 2010, John Townsend, Now What Do I Do?:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He used a tube to ____ gasoline from the car's tank into a can.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He used a rubber tube to ____ gasoline from the tank into a small container.