funnel

UK/ˈfʌnəl/US/ˈfʌnəl/

nounB1+4 meanings Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,973 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: funnels, funneled, funneling, funnelled

A funnel is the cone with a narrow tube at the bottom that you pour liquid through. Oil into an engine, jam into a jar, petrol into a can without half of it running down the outside.

It works as a verb, and that is where you will see it most: money is funnelled into a project, a crowd is funnelled through one gate, rainwater funnels down a gully and takes the path with it. Anything that narrows and channels gets the word — a tornado is funnel-shaped, and marketing people talk about the sales funnel, wide at the top with everyone who saw the advert and narrow at the bottom with the few who paid. On a steamship or an old locomotive the funnel is the chimney, which is a different picture entirely. British English doubles the l: funnelled, funnelling.

Definitions of funnel

1nounfunnelA cone-shaped tube used for pouring liquid or powder into a narrow opening.B1+
“She held the funnel steady while he poured in the oil.”
- Said"Use the funnel or we'll lose half the vinegar down the side."
- WrittenShe poured the jam via funnels into jars no wider than a thumb.
- UsedSet the funnel in the neck before you start pouring, not after.
- ContrastA funnel, not a jug. A jug pours from a wide lip; a funnel narrows to a point and drops it in. jug →
- Not thisA sieve is not a funnel, though both are cone-shaped. A funnel lets everything pass.
- SimplyPut the funnel in the bottle. Now the milk goes in.
Patternpour sth through a funnel · a plastic / metal funnel · funnel sth into + noun
2nounchimneyA chimney on a ship or a steam engine.C1
“Black smoke poured from the ship's funnel.”
3verbmoveTo move or direct something through a narrow space or channel.B2
“All the traffic was funnelled into a single lane.”
4verbmoneyTo direct money or resources towards a particular purpose.B2
“The profits were funnelled into a new research centre.”

funnel is a pouring tool.

Remember it

FUNnel → a FUNNY little tunnel

A funny little tunnel for water: wide at the top, narrow at the bottom, so the oil goes into the bottle and not on the floor.

hooks ontofunny

Where it comes from

Funnel came into Middle English as funell, probably by way of Old French, from Latin infundibulum — the thing you pour in with. Pull that apart and you get in, 'in', and fundere, 'to pour'. The same Latin verb is still at work inside the English word fuse.

Latin
fundibulum
Old French
*founel
Middle English
funell
English, today
funnel

Built from

infundibulum · Latin — funnel
infundere · Latin — to pour in
in · Latin — in
fundere · Latin — to pour

From Middle English funell, fonel, probably through Old French founel (compare Middle French fonel, Old Occitan fonilh, enfounilh), from Latin fundibulum, infundibulum (“funnel”), from infundere (“to pour in”); in (“in”) + fundere (“to pour”); compare Breton founilh (“funnel”), Welsh ffynel (“air hole, chimney”). See fuse.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Definitions of funnel

1nounfunnelA cone-shaped tube used for pouring liquid or powder into a narrow opening.B1+

“She held the funnel steady while he poured in the oil.”

Said"Use the funnel or we'll lose half the vinegar down the side."
WrittenShe poured the jam via funnels into jars no wider than a thumb.
UsedSet the funnel in the neck before you start pouring, not after.
ContrastA funnel, not a jug. A jug pours from a wide lip; a funnel narrows to a point and drops it in. jug →
Not thisA sieve is not a funnel, though both are cone-shaped. A funnel lets everything pass.
SimplyPut the funnel in the bottle. Now the milk goes in.

Patternpour sth through a funnel · a plastic / metal funnel · funnel sth into + noun

2nounchimneyA chimney on a ship or a steam engine.C1

“Black smoke poured from the ship's funnel.”

3verbmoveTo move or direct something through a narrow space or channel.B2

“All the traffic was funnelled into a single lane.”

4verbmoneyTo direct money or resources towards a particular purpose.B2

“The profits were funnelled into a new research centre.”

funnel is a pouring tool.