canal

American  

[kuh-nal] / kəˈnæl /

noun

• canals
  plural

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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• canals
  plural

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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

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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

See Examples For:

canal canals canaled canalled canalling

Because the treatment needs to reach the central nervous system, it is administered through an injection into the spinal canal.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

We cast off and turned into the narrow canal, lined with private docks and boat lifts—a No Wake zone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

He said he did not believe this was Hounslow Council's fault, but that it needed attention "if we do want to develop usage of the canal, particularly for children on the water".

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Kosin Nilset, who lives along the Premprachakorn canal on the outskirts of the capital, said his house was "underwater for about 30 hours".

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

The Bergues-Furnes canal was marked in thick bright blue on his map.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on social media Sunday that several roads remained flooded and water levels in the city's canals were still high, but authorities were working to speed up drainage.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

The state also helped local agencies bring in diesel-powered pumps and other equipment to suck water out of rivers and into canals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026

People have been urged to stay at home and those living close to the city's network of canals have been advised to move their belongings to upper floors.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

Data-center spending is greater than that for canals, railroads, and grid combined—creating jobs and stock-market wealth, while boosting inflation and crowding out housing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

People got around by boat or used the crowded gangways and bridges that crossed the canals.

From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat

The warmth at his heart annulled whatever of chill stole in at the grayness of the canaled streets of the northern city after the color and glow of Porto.

From Dreamers of the Ghetto by Israel Zangwill

Hindu temples, for the many Guyanese descended from laborers from the Indian subcontinent, dot Georgetown’s canalled streets.

From New York Times ● May 9, 2010

And he should never be blocked in: he should at most be canalled.

From The Invisible Censor by Francis Hackett

Those of the latter are more generally found about our large towns and cities, and along the lines of canalling.

From A New Guide for Emigrants to the West by John Mason Peck

When I got old enough, and had money enough, I was determined to go west and seek my fortune; for I always felt that canalling was, somehow, beneath what I wanted to do and become.

From Vandemark's Folly by Herbert Quick

The system of canalling is a system of slack-water navigation, but abhors stagnant water.

From Mexico and its Religion With Incidents of Travel in That Country During Parts of the Years 1851-52-53-54, and Historical Notices of Events Connected With Places Visited by Robert A. Wilson

The spirit of improvement throughout the United States, especially evidenced in canalling, and rail-roads, will, it is hoped, in a few years, open modes of communication, which as yet are wanting, with the markets.

From A New Guide for Emigrants to the West by John Mason Peck

We had a good deal of difficulty at first in our canalling, especially in meeting and passing vessels.

From A Century of Sail and Steam on the Niagara River by Barlow Cumberland

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