siphon, syphon, fictitious

Satyam Accused of Creating Ghost Staff

Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju was accused by a prosecutor of using salary payments to 13,000 fictitious employees to siphon millions of dollars.

Definition

fictitious Hide phonetics
adjective
invented and not true or not existing:
He dismissed recent rumours about his private life as fictitious.
Characters in this film are entirely fictitious.
siphon Show phonetics
noun [C]
1 (ALSO syphon) a tube that is bent in the shape of an `n', with each end in a separate container at two different levels, so that liquid can be pulled up into it from the higher container and go down through it into the lower container

2 a soda siphon

siphon, syphon Show phonetics
verb [T usually + adverb or preposition]
to remove liquid from a container using a siphon


━━ n., v. サイフォン（で吸上げる，を通る）; サイフォンびん （siphon bottle）; 【動】水管.
siphon off [out]　吸い上げ管で吸い出す; （余剰購買力などを）吸収する; 引き抜く; 横流しする.

n. (名詞 noun)

1. 吸水管 虹吸管 呼吸管
   

vt. (及物動詞 transitive verb)

1. 用虹吸管吸上來

vi. (不及物動詞 intransitive verb)

1. 通過虹吸管吸

Google Siphons Searchers From Yahoo, Microsoft
PC World - USA
Google increased its share of the US Internet search engine market in October, taking share away from rivals Yahoo and Microsoft, according to market ...



siphon sth off, UK ALSO syphon sth off phrasal verb
to dishonestly take money from an organization or other supply, and use it for a purpose for which it was not intended:
He lost his job when it was discovered that he had been siphoning off money from the company for his own use.

"We don't anticipate a lot of unplanned markdowns," said Scott B. Krugman, a vice president at the National Retail Federation trade group.

Of course, it wouldn't be Christmas without sales to entice shoppers. But barring a meltdown in consumer spending, many retailers believe they will be able to stick to carefully calibrated sales promotions without resorting to panicky price cuts that siphon off profits.