siphoned

verb

variants also syphoned
past tense of siphon
1
as in drained
to remove (liquid) gradually or completely I let the stranded motorist siphon some of my gas so he could be on his way

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in funneled
to cause to move to a central point or along a restricted pathway investigators discovered that the so-called charitable organization was siphoning funds for personal use

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of siphoned This year alone, $5 billion in taxpayer funds will be siphoned away from public schools to prop up Florida’s unaccountable voucher program, diverting dollars from the more than 80% of children who attend public schools. — Andrew Spar, Sun Sentinel, 24 Aug. 2026 Police said Cedillos-Campos had siphoned gas from his motorcycle and put it in a water bottle ahead of time. — Holly Yan, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026 The rise of other Jeffco programs also siphoned off talent that might have previously open enrolled at Columbine. — Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 16 Aug. 2026 That unsustainable spike has siphoned away money to fund, for example, street repairs, public transit and health care services for the needy. — Daniel Borenstein, Mercury News, 11 Aug. 2026 The candidate is linked to — but not accused of any wrongdoing in — a corruption case involving two former advisors and a lobbyist who siphoned $225,000 money from one of Becerra’s campaign accounts. — Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026 Squash plants are withered, siphoned to oblivion by squash bugs. — Anthony Reardon, Kansas City Star, 2 Aug. 2026 States should step up their efforts to audit hospitals and nursing homes, to determine whether profits are being purposefully siphoned to related parties. — Peter Ubel, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026 For San Diego, one of those lessons came in 2019 through the Academic Arts and Action, or A3, charter school fraud scheme, which siphoned more than $400 million from public education and ultimately led to the criminal prosecution of 11 individuals. — Malia M Cohen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for siphoned
  1. drained
  2. funneled
  3. pumped
  4. directed
  5. channeled
  6. carried
  7. conducted
  8. piped
Verb
  • Two lawyers can work identical hours in the same organization and experience their jobs in fundamentally different ways — one drained by constant conflict, another by lack of autonomy, another by isolation.
    — Malana VanTyler, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The song is a lesson about the importance of empathy drained of the feel-good reassurance that might let the listener off the hook.
    — Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of drained
Verb
  • Robert Manuel Nacionales Tafoya, at the time the Baldwin Park city attorney, drafted up the legal documents that funneled the money from Chavez’s firm to Pacheco and worked with Pacheco to deliver the permits, prosecutors say.
    — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Since June's election, Super PACs associated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee have funneled more than $5 million into the East Bay race on ads supporting Hernandez, according to Politico.
    — Noe Padilla, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of funneled
Verb
  • Emergency workers have pumped air and dropped food into one tunnel but have yet to establish communication with anyone inside.
    — Bhadra Sharma, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Recycled water is pumped into wells about 2,200 feet below the surface into underground salt deposits.
    — Susan Selasky, Freep.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of pumped
Verb
  • One of the questions, directed to David Hunt, director of finance for Entergy Arkansas, asks him to explain the reasoning for the classification of the payments.
    — Sydney Sasser, Arkansas Online, 1 Sep. 2026
  • There’s also the last-minute addition of NAZA, directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, two of the Oscar-winning filmmakers behind No Other Land.
    — Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of directed
Verb
  • The closure channeled extra traffic to and then backed up I-285 northbound on both sides of town from well before its two I-20 intersections.
    — Doug Turnbull, AJC.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The two men have spoken directly since Warsh became chairman, breaking with a tradition that sees contact between the Fed and the administration channeled through the Treasury secretary.
    — Matt Peterson, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of channeled
Verb
  • Norman carried his district and the upstate, where the Grahams were raised and where conservative voters had been most critical of the late senator.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Ukraine resumed drone attacks on Moscow overnight into Wednesday morning, the city's Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said, hours after the departure of the plane that carried CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Moscow for an unannounced visit on Tuesday morning.
    — David Brennan, ABC News, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of carried
Verb
  • Mayor Zohran Mamdani said an internal investigation will be conducted and that the body-camera footage will be released to the public.
    — Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Mamdani applauded police for stopping the attack but said an internal investigation would be conducted.
    — Emily Hallas, The Washington Examiner, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of conducted
Verb
  • The cost of powering homes is also up, with electricity and piped gas both costing around 4% more annually.
    — Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The collection also includes a special Poké Ball Doughnut — glazed and dipped in vanilla icing, topped with red sprinkles and piped with chocolate icing.
    — Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of piped

Browse Nearby Words

siphon
siphoned
siphoning
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Cite this Entry

“Siphoned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/siphoned. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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