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

The operation was livestreamed by the city as curious onlookers gathered along the canal for a glimpse of the shark.

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026

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

Residents in Brentford have raised concerns about sewage flowing into the local canal network, with dead animals washing up over the summer.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Maria lived near a canal like this, which was used for transport and commerce.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman

As a child, Franzoy often went tubing on the river or splashed with playmates in gurgling irrigation canals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

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

With a $5-million state grant years ago, he built 5 miles of canals to route floodwaters to fields.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026

The rain is expected to continue into Sunday, raising fears that more canals could burst their banks.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

There was nothing waiting for him in the city but more hunger and dark alleys and the damp of the canals.

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

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

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 James Fenimore Cooper

The canalling is managed by a Board of Commissioners.

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

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

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 Barlow Cumberland

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

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