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canal

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ca⋅nal

  [kuh-nal] noun, verb, -nalled or -naled, -nal⋅ling or -nal⋅ing.
Use canal in a Sentence
–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., esp. 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)
6. to make a canal through.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME: waterpipe, tubular passage < L canālis, perh. equiv. to can(na) reed, pipe (see cane ) + -ālis -al 1 ; def. 5 a mistranslation of It canali channels, term used by G. V. Schiaparelli
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ca·nal   (kə-nāl')   
n.  

  1. An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.

  2. Anatomy A tube, duct, or passageway.

  3. Astronomy One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars.

tr.v.   ca·nalled or ca·naled, ca·nal·ling or ca·nal·ing, ca·nals

  1. To dig an artificial waterway through: canal an isthmus.

  2. To provide with an artificial waterway or waterways.


[Partly French, channel, and partly Middle English, tube (from Medieval Latin canāle), both from Latin canālis, tube, channel, probably from canna, small reed; see cane.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

canal 
c.1449, from L. canalis "pipe, groove, channel," from canna "reed." Originally "a pipe for liquid," its sense shifted by 1673 to "artificial waterway."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: ca·nal
Pronunciation: k&-'nal
Function: noun
: a tubular anatomical passage or channel : DUCT —see ALIMENTARY CANAL, HAVERSIAN CANAL, INGUINAL CANAL
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

canal ca·nal (kə-nāl')
n.
A duct, a channel, or a tubular structure.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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