Suez Canal

American  

noun

1. a canal in NE Egypt, cutting across the Isthmus of Suez and connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. 107 miles (172 km) long.

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Suez Canal British  

noun

1. a sea-level canal in NE Egypt, crossing the Isthmus of Suez and linking the Mediterranean with the Red Sea: built (1854–69) by de Lesseps with French and Egyptian capital; nationalized in 1956 by the Egyptians. Length: 163 km (101 miles)

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Suez Canal Cultural  

1. A canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas, completed in 1869 and long controlled by Great Britain. The opera Aïda by Giuseppe Verdi was written to honor the opening of the canal. (See Suez Canal crisis.)

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Example Sentences

Both companies have suspended shipping routes through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, the gateway to the canal, due to safety concerns related to the war and the volatile situation around Hormuz.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 16, 2026

But Egypt lost toll revenues from the Suez Canal, which make up a large part of its income.

From Barron's • May 1, 2026

Lying on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Djibouti serves as a gateway to the Suez Canal, one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

While Iranian officials compare the proposed toll system to the practice of the Suez Canal, which generates billions of dollars each year for Egypt, these two waterways are fundamentally different under international law.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

What happened was that the Khedive hired a sculptor to make that grand statue to greet ships as they entered the Suez Canal.

From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman