siphon

siphon


si·phon also sy·phon    Audio Help   (sī'fən)   

n.  
  1. 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.

  2. Zoology A tubular organ, especially of aquatic invertebrates such as squids or clams, by which water is taken in or expelled.

v.   si·phoned also sy·phoned, si·phon·ing also sy·phon·ing, si·phons also sy·phons

v.   tr.
To draw off or convey through or as if through a siphon.
v.   intr.
To pass through a siphon.

[Middle English, from Latin sīphō, sīphōn-, from Greek sīphōn.]
si'phon·al, si·phon'ic (sī-fŏn'ĭk) adj.
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