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/keuh nal"/, n., v., canalled or canaled, canalling or canaling.n.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. Astron. one of the long, narrow, dark lines on the surface of the planet Mars, as seen telescopically from the earth.v.t.6. to make a canal through.[1400-50; late ME: waterpipe, tubular passage < L canalis, perh. equiv. to can(na) reed, pipe (see CANE) + -alis -AL1; def. 5 a mistranslation of It canali channels, term used by G. V. Schiaparelli]
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IArtificial waterway built for transportation, irrigation, water supply, or drainage.The early Middle Eastern civilizations probably first built canals to supply drinking and irrigation water. The most ambitious navigation canal was a 200-mi (320-km) construction in what is now Iraq. Roman canal systems for military transport extended throughout northern Europe and Britain. The most significant canal innovation was the pound lock, developed by the Dutch c. 1373. The closed chamber, or pound, of a lock is flooded or drained of water so that a vessel within it is raised or lowered in order to pass between bodies of water at different elevations. Canals were extremely important before the coming of the railroad in the mid-19th century. Among the significant waterways in the U.S. were the Erie Canal, several canals linking the Great Lakes, and one connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River. Modern waterway engineering enables larger vessels to travel faster by reducing delays at locks. See also Grand Canal, Panama Canal, Suez Canal.II(as used in expressions)Giovanni Antonio CanalMars canals of* * *
Universalium. 2010.