canal

[kuh-nal]

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.

verb (used with object)

canalled, canaled, canalling, canaling. 

1. to make a canal through.

canal

/ 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

verb

1. to dig a canal through

2. to provide with a canal or canals

Word History and Origins

Origin of canal¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English: “waterpipe, tubular passage,” from Latin canālis, perhaps equivalent to can(na) “reed, pipe” ( cane ) + -ālis -al ¹; canal def. 5 a mistranslation of Italian canali “channels,” the term used by G. V. Schiaparelli

Word History and Origins

Origin of canal¹

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

Example Sentences

Visitors staying in a vehicle or on board a vessel, such a canal boat which mainly stays in one place, will also have to pay the charge.

From BBC

But what caught the popular imagination were the giant breakfast eggcups on the roof overlooking the canal.

From BBC

There's a bit of a queue also at a little bridge that leads over a canal towards the windmills.

From BBC

"We're getting to a point where it's no longer an option to treat with fillings or root canal."

From BBC

To the south, along the historic canals of Venice, ocean breezes cool the air and the prevailing sound is of fountains trickling in homeowners’ yards.

From Los Angeles Times