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

A very large crude carrier, or VLCC, can hold about 2 million barrels but sits too deep in the water when fully loaded to use the canal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Known as oto-acoustic emissions, these sounds can be detected by placing a sensitive microphone inside the ear canal.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026

Fencing exists along the aqueduct and MWD facilities “to prevent unauthorized access,” and signage warns about the dangers of entering the canal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

Unveiling a plaque at the Grand Union Canal, he said: "Sooner or later, all canal roads lead here, and all canal journeys end here."

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

James never regretted going to school instead of staying on the canal.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

Surrounded at the rally by about 90 of the last remaining working boats on England's canals, Samuel West recalled childhood holidays on the "cut".

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

Cities and towns will also get more from the federal canals that are part of the Central Valley Project.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

Researchers caution that this does not mean root canals are a treatment for diabetes.

From Science Daily ● May 16, 2026

"And sometimes they do it for their own safety, so that tigers cannot attack them, when they anchor their boats near forest canals."

From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026

She would stick to her plan of moving through the city methodically, neighborhood by neighborhood, scoping out the streets and 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 Zangwill, Israel

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 Hackett, Francis

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 Quick, Herbert

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 Cumberland, Barlow

Indeed, I never can believe I am at sea at all, on the Atlantic, the passages between New-York and Portsmouth being little more than so much canalling along a tow-path.

From Home as Found by Cooper, James Fenimore

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 Wilson, Robert A.

The stern part was taken down the long upper level by a small tug, but teams were employed in towing for all the remaining portions of the canalling.

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