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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of funnel
Mark Simon, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2025
There are real goats and horses here, as well as a snack bar serving funnel cakes, plus hay bales stacked dangerously high, and all manners of rusty farming equipment painted to resemble barnyard animals.
—Frederick Dreier, Outside, 20 Oct. 2025
Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 18 Oct. 2025
The 4-4-2 structure provides a stable midfield base that funnels service quickly into central areas, from both centrally and wide.
—Sukhman Singh, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for funnel
Verb
In a world where consumer habits form quickly, disappearing from the funnel now could mean disappearing for good.
—Mark Simon, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2025
There are real goats and horses here, as well as a snack bar serving funnel cakes, plus hay bales stacked dangerously high, and all manners of rusty farming equipment painted to resemble barnyard animals.
—Frederick Dreier, Outside, 20 Oct. 2025
Noun
Semafor traced it to a pair of US life insurers that had funneled policyholders’ cash to 777’s Bermudan reinsurer, which invested it into sports teams, airplanes, a payday lender, and a failing budget airline, among other bets generally unsuited for insurance guarantees.
—Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 18 Oct. 2025
The 4-4-2 structure provides a stable midfield base that funnels service quickly into central areas, from both centrally and wide.
—Sukhman Singh, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for funnel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for funnel
Verb
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The statement also directed further questions to Baltimore County Public Schools regarding Omnilert, the AI gun detection software used at the school.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
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Actor Ha’s new film, The People Upstairs, a remake of the 2020 Spanish comedy by Cesc Gay, will compete in LEAFF’S main competition strand, which features eight titles from filmmakers who have directed four feature films or fewer.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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An East Bay institution that’s slung tasty meat tubes for almost a century is no more.—
John Metcalfe,
Mercury News,
26 Oct. 2025
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Journey suffers from a multitude of medical complications, including an incurable lung disease, scoliosis, tremors, relies on a G-tube to eat, and has had surgery on both hips, according to victim impact statements and the prosecution.—
Sydney Barragan,
Oc Register,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The finished product is similar in flavor to cheese straws, just a little more hearty—and without all the fussing over mixing and piping pastry dough.—
Karla Walsh,
Better Homes & Gardens,
19 Oct. 2025
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Pipe melted candy melts along the length of the biscuit sticks to form tree trunks, and pipe more chocolate in wavy lines to form tree branches for spooky trees.—
Ann Taylor Pittman,
Southern Living,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Dončić channeled his competitive rage against the team that knocked him out of the playoffs a season ago.—
Dan Woike,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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Now JetBlue passengers can even watch Banks explain how to channel your inner mixologist, no cocktail shaker required, in a funny new video streaming on the plane.—
Meredith Lepore,
Travel + Leisure,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Van Teutem took on the project after watching the prestige treadmill siphon talented, creative kids into trivial work—and then close the door behind them.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
26 Oct. 2025
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Then, in mid-2024, seemingly out of the blue, the 59-year-old producer was accused — first in a civil suit and then in a federal indictment in the Central District Court of California — of siphoning funds from one of his own shows for personal use.—
Steve Belanger,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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North also styled her hair in braids like Dionne and carried a small black leather handbag.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
26 Oct. 2025
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This year, a replica of the Seneca Chief, which carried Clinton in 1825, set out from Buffalo on the canal.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
26 Oct. 2025
Verb
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China’s newest aircraft carrier may only be able to conduct air operations at about 60% the rate of a 50-year-old US Navy carrier, two former US carrier officers say, a substantial combat limitation for a vessel meant to revolutionize Beijing’s fleet.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
26 Oct. 2025
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In a statement shared on social media, the EPD confirmed that the investigation remains open and is being conducted by the Massachusetts State Police, the Everett Police Department and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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When work began, parts of the Creek had been fully channelized, other portions covered by development, others existing as nothing more than trash and weed choked trickles.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
10 Aug. 2025
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Those changes include channelizing the bay in some places and transforming it into dunes and marshland in others.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
29 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Funnel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/funnel. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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