english
                    
                    
                    
                        1
                           general:: 
                           Phrase(s): siphon something off (from something)  1. Lit. to suck or draw a liquid off from something.  •  Harry siphoned the cream off the milk.  •  He siphoned off the cream. 2. Fig. to embezzle or steal something a little at a time. The teller had been siphoning money off for years.  •  She siphoned off a few dollars from the collection every week or so.
                           
                           
                           
                           
                        
    
                       
                    
                        
                        
                        
                    
 
                    
                        McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs