資料來源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Siphon \Si"phon\, n. [F. siphon, L. sipho, -onis, fr. Gr. ??? a
siphon, tube, pipe.]
1. A device, consisting of a pipe or tube bent so as to form
two branches or legs of unequal length, by which a liquid
can be transferred to a lower level, as from one vessel to
another, over an intermediate elevation, by the action of
the pressure of the atmosphere in forcing the liquid up
the shorter branch of the pipe immersed in it, while the
continued excess of weight of the liquid in the longer
branch (when once filled) causes a continuous flow. The
flow takes place only when the discharging extremity of
the pipe ia lower than the higher liquid surface, and when
no part of the pipe is higher above the surface than the
same liquid will rise by atmospheric pressure; that is,
about 33 feet for water, and 30 inches for mercury, near
the sea level.
2. (Zo["o]l.)
(a) One of the tubes or folds of the mantle border of a
bivalve or gastropod mollusk by which water is
conducted into the gill cavity. See Illust. under
{Mya}, and {Lamellibranchiata}.
(b) The anterior prolongation of the margin of any
gastropod shell for the protection of the soft siphon.
(c) The tubular organ through which water is ejected from
the gill cavity of a cephaloid. It serves as a
locomotive organ, by guiding and confining the jet of
water. Called also {siphuncle}. See Illust. under
{Loligo}, and {Dibranchiata}.
(d) The siphuncle of a cephalopod shell.
(e) The sucking proboscis of certain parasitic insects and
crustaceans.
(f) A sproutlike prolongation in front of the mouth of
many gephyreans.
(g) A tubular organ connected both with the esophagus and
the intestine of certain sea urchins and annelids.
3. A siphon bottle.
{Inverted siphon}, a tube bent like a siphon, but having the
branches turned upward; specifically (Hydraulic
Engineering), a pipe for conducting water beneath a
depressed place, as from one hill to another across an
intervening valley, following the depression of the
ground.
{Siphon barometer}. See under {Barometer}.
{Siphon bottle}, a bottle for holding a["e]rated water, which
is driven out through a bent tube in the neck by the gas
within the bottle when a valve in the tube is opened; --
called also {gazogene}, and {siphoid}.