1
: a tubular anatomical passage or channel : duct
2
3
: an artificial waterway for navigation or for draining or irrigating land
4
: any of various faint narrow lines on the planet Mars seen through telescopes and once thought by some to be canals built by Martians
canalled or canaled; canalling or canaling
: to construct a canal through or across
Examples of canal in a Sentence
Noun
the Panama Canal opened a much easier and shorter passageway from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Recent Examples on the Web
ABC News,
4 July 2026
As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the museum offers a patriotic lens into how the canals, highways, railroads and mines that stitched this country together were built by machines born in American factories.
—
Malika Bowling,
USA Today,
3 July 2026
But the gold seekers, the ‘49ers, immediately set to digging ditches and canals to divert water, and so the new state soon allowed that practice, too.
—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
2 July 2026
His canal pushed the new nation westward, opening the interior to migration and trade and securing (then Podunk) New York City’s megalopolis future.
—
Betsy Andrews,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 July 2026
See All Example Sentences for canal
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Noun
Public swimming has been available for years in a canal in northeastern Paris during summer.
—
ABC News,
4 July 2026
As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the museum offers a patriotic lens into how the canals, highways, railroads and mines that stitched this country together were built by machines born in American factories.
—
Malika Bowling,
USA Today,
3 July 2026
But the gold seekers, the ‘49ers, immediately set to digging ditches and canals to divert water, and so the new state soon allowed that practice, too.
—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
2 July 2026
His canal pushed the new nation westward, opening the interior to migration and trade and securing (then Podunk) New York City’s megalopolis future.
—
Betsy Andrews,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 July 2026
See All Example Sentences for canal
Cite this Entry
“Canal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canal. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
canal
noun
ca·nal
kə-ˈnal 
: a tubular anatomical passage or channel : duct see alimentary canal, Haversian canal, inguinal canal
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