canal

American  

[kuh-nal] / kəˈnæl /

noun

1. an artificial waterway for navigation, irrigation, etc.

2. a long narrow arm of the sea penetrating far inland.

3. a tubular passage or cavity for food, air, etc., especially in an animal or plant; a duct.

4. channel; watercourse.

5. Astronomy. one of the long, narrow, dark lines on the surface of the planet Mars, as seen telescopically from the earth.

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verb (used with object)

canalled, canaled, canalling, canaling

1. to make a canal through.

canal British  

/ kəˈnæl /

noun

1. an artificial waterway constructed for navigation, irrigation, water power, etc

2. any of various tubular passages or ducts

   the alimentary canal

3. any of various elongated intercellular spaces in plants

4. 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

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verb

1. to dig a canal through

2. to provide with a canal or canals

Etymology

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 -al ¹; canal def. 5 a mistranslation of Italian canali “channels,” the term used by G. V. Schiaparelli

Explanation

A canal is a long, man-made strip of water used for irrigation or boat access to a bigger body of water, like the famous Erie Canal, which connects the Hudson River to Lake Erie. Canal is related to the word channel, and all its different shades of meaning have to do with tunnel shaped spaces that carry liquid from one place to another. Besides man-made irrigation canals, canals that connect boat docks to rivers and oceans, or street-like canals in boat cities like Amsterdam, there are canals in your body, like your nasal canal, or the birth canal you came out of. It's also a verb meaning "to dig a canal."

Example Sentences

Horace Walpole called the Venetian Jubilee of April 1749 “the prettiest spectacle I ever saw,” though there was “nothing Venetian about it,” apart from a shallow canal and a “sort of gondola” loaded with musicians.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

Root canal treatment works by removing infected tissue inside the tooth and sealing the area to prevent bacteria and toxins from spreading into surrounding tissues.

From Science Daily • May 16, 2026

But the standoff at the Strait of Hormuz has led to increased transits of smaller tankers through the canal, according to maritime data-analytics firm Kpler, which measures weekly transits.

From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026

It is one thing to imagine root canal surgery at the dentist.

From BBC • May 8, 2026

At night we go again to the other side of the canal.

From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque