I. si ‧ phon 1 BrE AmE ( also syphon British English ) /ˈsaɪf ə n/ noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: Latin sipho 'pipe, tube' , from Greek siphon ]
1 . a bent tube used for getting liquid out of a container, used by holding one end of the tube at a lower level than the end in the container
2 . ( also soda siphon ) a type of bottle for holding ↑ soda water , which is forced out of the bottle using gas pressure
II. siphon 2 BrE AmE ( also syphon British English ) verb [transitive always + adverb/preposition]
1 . ( also siphon something ↔ off/out ) to remove liquid from a container by using a siphon:
It took him only a few minutes to siphon off the petrol and drive away.
siphon something out of/from something
Crews began siphoning oil from the leaking boat.
2 . ( also siphon something ↔ off ) to dishonestly take money from a business, account etc to use it for a purpose for which it was not intended:
Emergency aid was siphoned off by foreign ministry officials for their own use.
siphon something from something
I found she had siphoned thousands of dollars from our bank account.
III. sy ‧ phon /ˈsaɪf ə n/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
a British spelling of ↑ siphon