siphon

noun

1. A bent pipe or tube with one end lower than the other, in which hydrostatic pressure exerted due to the force of gravity moves liquid from one reservoir to another.

   “The asserted fact that free hydrochloric acid is absent from the fluid removed by a siphon in cases of cancer of the stomach has been lately much discussed in Germany, and Dr Van der Welden, of Strassburg, introduced an alcoholic solution of tropæolin as a test with this object.”

2. A soda siphon.
3. A tubelike organ found in animals or elongated cell found in plants.

   “As a result, although corbinas commonly utilize mollusks, they are limited to the siphons, foot, or other soft parts that either extend from the shell or can be picked from it.”

verb

1. (transitive)To transfer (liquid) by means of a siphon.

   “He used a rubber tube to siphon petrol from the car's fuel tank.”

2. (broadly, transitive)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.”

3. (figuratively, often, transitive)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.”

   “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.”

   “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.”