as in aqueducts
an open man-made passageway for water
the Panama Canal opened a much easier and shorter passageway from the Atlantic to the Pacific
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Recent Examples of canals
Resident parrots, monkeys, and sea turtles delight guests, while the beach, multiple swimming pools, and a series of freshwater canals, traversable by boat, provide non-stop activity options.
—
Allison Tibaldi, USA Today, 27 Sep. 2025
Iconic sites like Venice’s canals, Florence’s art galleries, Rome’s historic landmarks, and the Amalfi Coast's picturesque towns—like Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello—become easily accessible.
—Andrea Grisdale, Travel + Leisure, 25 Sep. 2025
Percival Lowell in the 19th century was convinced Mars had canals.
—Adam Frank, Big Think, 25 Sep. 2025
The alternative is to explore Livorno itself, a lively Tuscan port with canals, seafood markets and easy connections to nearby vineyards.
—David Nikel, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
The Bureau of Reclamation manages water resources and operates irrigation systems, dams, canals and other infrastructure in the West.
—Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman, 16 Sep. 2025
Swimming in the Venice canals is prohibited for a variety of reasons, including the intense boat traffic and the cleanliness — or lack thereof — of the water, according to the city’s tourism ministry.
—Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2025
The issue wasn’t settled until 1965, when NASA’s Mariner 4 spacecraft flew past Mars and saw no canals.
—David W. Brown, New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2025
The Ganges has been a center of trade and devotion for centuries, the Brahmaputra feeds tea estates and wildlife-rich floodplains, and Kerala’s canals knit together fishing towns and rice paddies.
—Bailey Berg, AFAR Media, 9 Sep. 2025
Allison Tibaldi, USA Today, 27 Sep. 2025
Iconic sites like Venice’s canals, Florence’s art galleries, Rome’s historic landmarks, and the Amalfi Coast's picturesque towns—like Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello—become easily accessible.
—Andrea Grisdale, Travel + Leisure, 25 Sep. 2025
Percival Lowell in the 19th century was convinced Mars had canals.
—Adam Frank, Big Think, 25 Sep. 2025
The alternative is to explore Livorno itself, a lively Tuscan port with canals, seafood markets and easy connections to nearby vineyards.
—David Nikel, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
The Bureau of Reclamation manages water resources and operates irrigation systems, dams, canals and other infrastructure in the West.
—Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman, 16 Sep. 2025
Swimming in the Venice canals is prohibited for a variety of reasons, including the intense boat traffic and the cleanliness — or lack thereof — of the water, according to the city’s tourism ministry.
—Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2025
The issue wasn’t settled until 1965, when NASA’s Mariner 4 spacecraft flew past Mars and saw no canals.
—David W. Brown, New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2025
The Ganges has been a center of trade and devotion for centuries, the Brahmaputra feeds tea estates and wildlife-rich floodplains, and Kerala’s canals knit together fishing towns and rice paddies.
—Bailey Berg, AFAR Media, 9 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canals
Noun
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For millennia, qanats—ingenious underground aqueducts—balanced survival with scarcity across the central plateau of Iran.—
Nik Kowsar,
Time,
2 Oct. 2025
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Pipes are painted like tree trunks, flumes are supported by faux crumbling aqueducts, waterfalls gush through holes in the hulls of boats and sails hang overhead to protect from the searing sun.—
Caroline Reid,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The report card also showed 55,000 gallons of sewage this past year, with close to 15,000 gallons of that flowing into Marin County waterways.—
Adrian Rodriguez,
Mercury News,
29 Sep. 2025
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Debris pollutes waterways, cooking fires may spread, and the District Attorney’s Office has repeatedly documented how homeless residents are more likely to be victims of crime.—
Blake Nelson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Canals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canals. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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