Phr V
syphon off
siphons, siphoning, siphoned/syphons, syphoning, syphoned
siphon away/off sth or siphon sth away/off
British, American & Australiansyphon away/off sth or syphon sth away/off
British & Australian to succeed in taking something {e.g. business, votes} from another organization or personThe new out-of-town supermarket has siphoned off business from the town centre.If she stands for election, she could siphon off votes that would otherwise go to the Republican candidate.
siphon off sth or siphon sth off
British, American & Australiansyphon off sth or syphon sb/sth off
British & Australian to dishonestly take money from an organization or other supply and use it for a purpose for which it was not intendedIt was later discovered that he had siphoned off 400 million from the company pension fund.