canal

[ kuh-nal ]

See synonyms for canal on Thesaurus.com

noun

an artificial waterway for navigation, irrigation, etc.
a long narrow arm of the sea penetrating far inland.

a tubular passage or cavity for food, air, etc., especially in an animal or plant; a duct.
channel; watercourse.
Astronomy. one of the long, narrow, dark lines on the surface of the planet Mars, as seen telescopically from the earth.

verb (used with object),ca·nalled or ca·naled, ca·nal·ling or ca·nal·ing.

to make a canal through.

Origin of canal

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English: “waterpipe, tubular passage,” from Latin canālis, perhaps equivalent to can(na) “reed, pipe” (see cane) + -ālis -al¹; def. 5 a mistranslation of Italian canali “channels,” the term used by G. V. Schiaparelli

Words Nearby canal

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use canal in a sentence

Once they’re nestled securely into the ear canal, users use an app to activate UE’s Lightform technology.
UE’s new headphones use an app and LED lights to create a truly custom fit | Stan Horaczek | October 1, 2020 | Popular-Science
Babies get a dollop from their mothers as they travel through the birth canal.
When Evolution Is Infectious - Issue 90: Something Green | Moises Velasquez-Manoff | September 30, 2020 | Nautilus
Spirals in the canal to the eggs make the distance longer than the entire length of the female.
A tiny crustacean fossil contains roughly 100-million-year-old giant sperm | Curtis Segarra | September 21, 2020 | Science News
Thanks to federally subsidized canals, for example, water in part of the Desert Southwest costs less than it does in Philadelphia.
Climate Change Will Force a New American Migration | by Abrahm Lustgarten, photography by Meridith Kohut | September 15, 2020 | ProPublica
WHAT TO DO Take a walk along the downtown canal and enjoy the State Museum and History Center along the way.
Escape to Indy for a weekend getaway | Bill Malcolm | September 4, 2020 | Washington Blade

British Dictionary definitions for canal

canal

/ (kəˈnæl) /

noun

an artificial waterway constructed for navigation, irrigation, water power, etc
any of various tubular passages or ducts: the alimentary canal

any of various elongated intercellular spaces in plants
astronomy any of the indistinct surface features of Mars originally thought to be a network of channels but not seen on close-range photographs. They are caused by an optical illusion in which faint geological features appear to have a geometric structure

verb-nals, -nalling or -nalled or US -nals, -naling or -naled (tr)

to dig a canal through
to provide with a canal or canals

Origin of canal

C15 (in the sense: pipe, tube): from Latin canālis channel, water pipe, from canna reed, cane 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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