I have to admit I never use a dictionary as a source of information (except spelling) and neither did Stephan Hughes of Queensland University of Technology until he read a media account of a siphon. They had the definition wrong, and so did all but one of the dictionaries he checked (I checked the 2 dictionaries I have and both are wrong). The dictionaries say siphons use air pressure when in fact they use gravity induced hydrostatic pressure. The error dates back to the Oxford English Dictionary published in 1911. I found this error interesting and wonder if there are other errors.
..time to create the 'read the Dictionary and spot the error!' club! Clearly this chap has made it to "s" - so let's hit the t's!
The Oxford Dictionary of English. A practical example of a siphon at*work Cookies Required Way back in time during an hydraulics course lab we demonstrated that siphons work in a vacuum as well as a wide range of pressures.
When Dmitri Borgmann came to America from Germany in the early 2Oth century, he spoke now English. He bought a copy of the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary, and decided to read through it. By the time he got to the word "stalemate" he realized they had defined it wrong. He wrote to the publisher, who apologized, and said they'd fix it with the next edition. When the 2nd edition came out 25 years later, Borgmann eagerly looked into it, and they still had it wrong. He wrote again. They apologized again. Meanwhile, Borgmann wrote some of the most charming [my opinion, of course] books on the peculiarities of the English language. "Language on Vacation" seems to be the only one readily available.
Dictionary.com has it wrong too! si·phon /ˈsaɪfən/ Show Spelled[sahy-fuhn] Show IPA –noun 1. a tube or conduit bent into legs of unequal length, for use in drawing a liquid from one container into another on a lower level by placing the shorter leg into the container above and the longer leg into the one below, the liquid being forced up the shorter leg and into the longer one by the pressure of the atmosphere.