siphon
verbEtymology 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.
1
To transfer (liquid) by means of a siphon.
- He used a rubber tube to siphon petrol from the car's fuel tank.
2
Broadly To transfer directly.
- 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:
3
Figuratively, Often, With "off" To steal or skim off something, such as money, in small amounts; to embezzle.
- 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?:
1 more example
- Artiles, a Republican operative with a reputation for a foul mouth and sharp elbows, is accused of financing a sham candidate whose candidacy was intended to siphon votes from a legitimate Democratic candidate in a state Senate race in South Florida’s 37th District. The candidate has the same last name as then-Democratic incumbent Jose Javier Rodriguez but did not actively campaign for the seat and has since admitted being recruited as a spoiler.2021 March 18, Scott Glover, Curt Devine, Audrey Ash, “Former Florida state senator charged in spoiler candidate scheme”, in CNN, archived from the original on 05 Jul 2022:
- Derived terms
- resiphon, siphonable, siphon the python, unsiphoned