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

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

See Examples For:

canal canals canaled canalled canalling

Police have confirmed a suspicious item which led to road closures around a canal in Retford was a replica grenade.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

Higdon once had to pull a calf from the birth canal of its mother during a complex delivery.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

Boaters are racing against the clock to beat canal closures as waterways run dry due to extreme heat.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

"I've lived here for 25 years and the water has never been this low," said pensioner Mitica Nicolae from Corabia as he fished in an irrigation canal close to the river.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

The courtyard turned out to be a pier overlooking a dark canal.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

These are the standard ingredients of bubbles from canals and railroads to the Great British Bicycle Bubble.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

One of the two canals that irrigate it has been shut because the seawater would enter and damage the crops.

From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026

Some man-made canals such as Panama and Suez do charge tolls and fees for specific services.

From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026

The Central Valley Project includes 20 dams and about 500 miles of aqueducts and canals, stretching from the Redding area to near Bakersfield.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

We walked along the streets together, canals on one side almost all the way.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

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

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

It consists of canalling, improving river navigation, rail-roads, and common turnpike roads.

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

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 canalling is managed by a Board of Commissioners.

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