as in to direct
to cause to move to a central point or along a restricted pathway
funneled endless time and money into his misguided pet project
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in tube
Related Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of funnel
Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 21 Apr. 2026
Vouchers take public money and funnel it into the private sector for some parents to use on their children’s education.
—Erykah Nava, Chicago Tribune, 21 Apr. 2026
Marcia Dunn, Chicago Tribune, 7 Apr. 2026
Squeezing through ‘pinch points’ Our model showed that the squirrel’s best habitat persists in a network of pinch points, bottlenecks where development and infrastructure funnel movement into a limited set of pathways.
—Eve Bohnett, The Conversation, 2 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for funnel
Verb
To reduce reliance on maritime routes, China has over recent decades built costly pipelines funnelling oil and gas over land from Central Asia, Russia and Myanmar.
—Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 21 Apr. 2026
Vouchers take public money and funnel it into the private sector for some parents to use on their children’s education.
—Erykah Nava, Chicago Tribune, 21 Apr. 2026
Noun
The toilet has been on-and-off limits to the crew ever since last week’s launch, prompting them to rely on a backup bag-and-funnel system for urinating.
—Marcia Dunn, Chicago Tribune, 7 Apr. 2026
Squeezing through ‘pinch points’ Our model showed that the squirrel’s best habitat persists in a network of pinch points, bottlenecks where development and infrastructure funnel movement into a limited set of pathways.
—Eve Bohnett, The Conversation, 2 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for funnel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for funnel
Verb
-
Concerns about ticket prices In his address to the congress, Infantino briefly addressed complaints about the costs of tickets to World Cup matches, but his comments were directed at the heads of the member associations and not fans.—
Anne M. Peterson,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2026
-
Now he’s gone and directed this lively documentary that features those aforementioned interviews.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Be sure to drive the historic Loop Road, explore a lava tube cave — formed about 15,000 years ago — and visit a 1,200-year-old tree and monoliths.—
Sarah Sekula,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
-
These long tubes—made of perforated or porous plastic or rubber with hose fittings at one or both ends—deliver water slowly.—
Steve Bender,
Southern Living,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
With that, an attacker can, among other things, hack multi-tenant systems, break out of containers based on Kubernetes or other frameworks, and create malicious pull requests that pipe the exploit code through CI/CD work flows.—
Scharon Harding,
ArsTechnica,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Spoon the filling into a plastic zip-top bag, snip a small corner off the bag, and pipe the filling back into the egg whites.—
Maddie Topliff,
Better Homes & Gardens,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Moon channels Jupiter’s drive, helping steady effort translate into visible progress.—
Tarot.com,
Baltimore Sun,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Chatting with the peddler Rutherford Selig (Bradley Stryker, enjoyably channeling Deadwood), Bynum casually unzips the surface of reality and dips into the waters below.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
And digital players that offer search or even AI exchanges will be looking to siphon away TV’s ad haul.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Authorities announced the arrest Wednesday of a Long Island PTA mom accused of siphoning more than $50,000 from an elementary school over a three-year span while she was employed as a New York Police Department officer.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
That projection is based on the player’s performance in each metric over the last three seasons (five for goalies), weighted for recency where more recent seasons carry more significance and regressed to the mean.—
Dom Luszczyszyn,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
-
The Moon amplifies Jupiter, helping your words land clearly and carry weight.—
Tarot.com,
Baltimore Sun,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Working with local police, the Secret Service conducted site reviews of the sprawling complex and established a security perimeter to prevent suspicious individuals from approaching the president and other VIP attendees.—
Michael Collins,
USA Today,
27 Apr. 2026
-
The Ravens conducted a protracted search, hiring Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter — one of Harbaugh’s former assistants — as the franchise’s fourth head coach.—
Michael Silver,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Upstream from Upper Klamath Lake, a key tributary was channelized and wetlands drained, resulting in massive amounts of phosphorus flowing into the Upper Klamath Lake and, eventually, the lower river.—
Debra Utacia Krol,
AZCentral.com,
29 Dec. 2025
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The Army Corps of Engineers channelized and paved the once-meandering river.—
Emma Bowman,
NPR,
17 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Funnel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/funnel. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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