conduit

American  

[kon-dwit, -doo-it, -dyoo-it, -dit] / ˈkɒn dwɪt, -du ɪt, -dju ɪt, -dɪt /

noun

• conduits
  plural

1. a pipe, tube, or the like, for conveying water or other fluid.

   Synonyms:

   channel, main, duct

2. a similar natural passage.

3. any means of transmission or conveyance, as of information.

   According to rumor, he served as a conduit for Israeli intelligence.

4. Electricity. a structure containing one or more ducts.

5. Archaic. a fountain.

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conduit British  

/ ˈkɒndɪt, -djʊɪt /

noun

1. a pipe or channel for carrying a fluid

2. a rigid tube or duct for carrying and protecting electrical wires or cables

3. an agency or means of access, communication, etc

4. botany a water-transporting element in a plant; a xylem vessel or a tracheid

5. a rare word for fountain

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• conduits
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of conduit

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English conduit, condut, condewit, condit, from Old French conduit, from Medieval Latin conductus “pipe channel”; see origin at conduce, duct

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Explanation

Instead of complaining about your chores, be grateful for the conduit, or pipe, that brings water to your home. Thanks to it, you don't have to go fetch water from the well whenever your mom wants a cup of coffee. The noun conduit comes from root words meaning "pipe," and the word retains this definition. For example, a channel between a reservoir and a water treatment plant could be called a conduit. Conduit can also be used in a figurative sense to refer to someone or something that conveys goods, information, or ideas. For instance, a religious leader might be seen as a conduit who brings divine messages to the people.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

conduit conduits

"We will learn from this and keep inclusion at the core of all we do, maintaining our belief in film and storytelling as a critical conduit for compassion and empathy."

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

But let history — and John Cage — remind us that opening our ears can be the conduit to opening our minds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

By most estimates, the pipeline was the conduit for about 3 million to 4 million barrels a day of crude before it shut down last week.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

The waterway was a vital conduit for global energy supplies before the war, carrying about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas to overseas markets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

This boy is called Geoffrey Atte-Water, because he lives by the River Fleet and tends the conduit there with his father.

From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli

One of California’s two main north-south water conduits, it pumps water from the Delta near the intakes of the other major system, the State Water Project.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

The layers of shell companies and use of foreign conduits into luxury real estate help leaders of the Islamic Republic maintain an image back home of embracing modesty and rejecting lavish lifestyles, researchers say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026

There’s no evidence that this generation intends to make pining their only romantic activity; it’s more that they are very content, at the moment, to luxuriate in the many conduits for yearning available to them.

From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2026

“The three primary conduits for sustained inflation are housing, labor and energy,” Dutta pointed out.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 23, 2026

Smokestacks fume and locomotives trundle back and forth on elevated conduits and leafless trees stand atop slag heaps like skeleton hands shoved up from the underworld.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

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Related Words

• duct
• pipe
• pipeline

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