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Definition of "siphon" [si•phon]

  • A pipe or tube fashioned or deployed in an inverted U shape and filled until atmospheric pressure is sufficient to force a liquid from a reservoir in one end of the tube over a barrier higher than the reservoir and out the other end. (noun)
  • Zoology A tubular organ, especially of aquatic invertebrates such as squids or clams, by which water is taken in or expelled. (noun)
  • To draw off or convey through or as if through a siphon. (verb-transitive)
  • To pass through a siphon. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "siphon" in a sentence
  • "The soda siphon is one of the standard Argentinian things to have around the house."
  • "The car had no gas tank, and Ricardo had rigged a plastic siphon from a smaller tank under the dashboard."
  • "Dr Stephen Hughes said he had discovered last year that the dictionary's definition of the word siphon, and most other dictionaries ', was incorrect."