siphon

1. (transitive) To transfer (liquid) by means of a siphon.Examples: "He used a rubber tube to siphon petrol from the car's fuel tank."transitive

2. (transitive, by extension) To transfer directly.Examples: "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."broadlytransitive

3. (transitive, figurative, often with "off") To steal or skim off something, such as money, in small amounts; to embezzle.Examples: "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."figurativelyoftentransitive