siphon

—siphonal, siphonic /suy fon"ik/, adj. —siphonless, adj. —siphonlike, adj.

/suy"feuhn/, n.

1. a tube or conduit bent into legs of unequal length, for use in drawing a liquid from one container into another on a lower level by placing the shorter leg into the container above and the longer leg into the one below, the liquid being forced up the shorter leg and into the longer one by the pressure of the atmosphere.

2. See siphon bottle.

3. a projecting tubular part of some animals, esp. certain mollusks, through which liquid enters or leaves the body.

v.t., v.i.

4. to convey, draw, or pass through or as if through a siphon (sometimes fol. by off): to siphon water; to siphon off profits into a secret bank account.

Also, syphon.

[1650-60; < L siphon- (s. of sipho) < Gk síphon, síphon pipe, tube]

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▪ instrument

also spelled  Syphon,  

      instrument, usually in the form of a tube bent to form two legs of unequal length, for conveying liquid over the edge of a vessel and delivering it at a lower level. Siphons may be of any size; they are used in civil engineering to transfer water or other fluids over elevations. The action depends upon the influence of gravity (not, as sometimes thought, on the difference in atmospheric pressure—a siphon will work in a vacuum) and upon the cohesive forces that prevent the columns of liquid in the legs of the siphon from breaking under their own weight. Water has been lifted more than 35 feet (11 m) by a siphon.

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