Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SIPHON

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connect today's word to others: Our word siphon comes from a Greek one meaning "tube or pipe." To siphon things is to take them, often sneakily, as if you're sucking them up through a tube or pipe. See if you can recall this sloppy-sounding near-synonym of siphon: to in_____tate something is to eat it or drink it in a greedy way, or more generally, to take it in or take it for yourself. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "SIPHON" This image is courtesy of Wikimedia. In the picture above, the blue tube is a siphon: a bent tube or pipe that allows liquid to flow from one container into another. To siphon liquid is to bring it up with a siphon. The idea is that you're emptying one container while filling another. So, figuratively, to siphon something is to take it and gradually use it up or move it somewhere else, as if you're drawing it off with a siphon. Pronunciation: SIGH fun Part of speech: Verb, usually the transitive kind: "they siphoned the funds," "they siphoned off the funds from that program to this one." Other forms: siphoned, siphoning, siphoner(s), siphonic How to use it: This word has a slightly negative tone: often, it's sneaky and underhanded, if not flat-out illegal, to siphon things. And when we talk about people siphoning things in a figurative way, we're reminded of thieves who sneak in to literally siphon gasoline from a vehicle. Talk about people, statements, decisions, actions, and events that siphon things. What kinds of things get siphoned? Money, energy, interest, attention, power, votes, support, data, information, people's loyalty, people's talents, and even people themselves: "Their nation has siphoned thousands of doctors and scientists from ours." Often you talk about siphoning things from, away from, to, or away to other things: "they siphoned votes away from the candidate," "they siphoned the funds from public to private schools." You can also talk about siphoning things off (or siphoning off things): "the party siphoned all his energy off," "meditation helps them siphon off frustration and anxiety." examples: Afternoons at the pool siphoned off the kids' energy, and they napped easily. "After a few months at Facebook, Parakilas was put in charge of a team responsible for making sure that outsiders were not misusing the data, and he was unnerved by what he found. Some games were siphoning off users' messages and photographs."    — Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 17 September 2018 study it now: Look away from the screen to define "siphon" without saying "draw off" or "divert." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) hopes to (accomplish something) before funding is inevitably siphoned away." Example: "The district hopes to renovate its leakiest, rustiest schools before funding is inevitably siphoned away." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Complete the Limerick! In each issue this month, finish off the last line of the poem with a word or phrase we've checked out before. From the previous issue: It's a true-or-false quiz, ugh, and get this: There's a statement with wording ambiguous. In one sense, it's correct; In the other, a wreck: A scholastic Scylla and Charybdis. Try this last one today: Their length so extreme they seem alien, These long words, like "holocephalian." And a long word for "long word" To cross a whole crossword: The fourteen-letter "_____________." review today's word: 1. A close opposite of SIPHON is A. DEFY. B. SLATE. C. INJECT. 2. The flea's scientific name is Siphonaptera, meaning we basically refer to fleas as "wingless _____." A. dots B. tubes C. thieves Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. B