What does "channel" mean?
The hollow bed of running waters; (also) the bed of the sea or other body of water.
Channel
/ˈt͡ʃænəl/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The hollow bed of running waters; (also) the bed of the sea or other body of water.
- Grammar: channel is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: canal, access, adit, adolescent stream.
- Useful contrasts: barrera, barrier, block.
- Usage evidence: The first man that succeed in swimming the Channel was Captain Webb.
How to use "channel"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "channel" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "channel" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "channel" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "channel" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "channel" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "canal" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "channel", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The hollow bed of running waters; (also) the bed of the sea or other body of water.
"The water coming out of the waterwheel created a standing wave in the channel."
- 2 The wale of a sailing ship which projects beyond the gunwale and to which the shrouds attach via the chains. One of the flat ledges of heavy plank bolted edgewise to the outside of a vessel, to increase the spread of the shrouds and carry them clear of the bulwarks.
- 3 a way of selling a company's product either directly or via distributors wordnet
- 4 The natural or man-made deeper course through a reef, bar, bay, or any shallow body of water.
"A channel was dredged to allow ocean-going vessels to reach the city."
- 5 a passage for water (or other fluids) to flow through wordnet
Show 26 more definitions
- 6 The navigable part of a river.
"We were careful to keep our boat in the channel."
- 7 a television station and its programs wordnet
- 8 A narrow body of water between two land masses.
"The English Channel lies between France and England."
- 9 a bodily passage or tube lined with epithelial cells and conveying a secretion or other substance wordnet
- 10 Something through which another thing passes; a means of conveying or transmitting.
"The news was conveyed to us by different channels."
- 11 a path over which electrical signals can pass wordnet
- 12 An ion channel: pore-forming proteins located in a cell membrane that allow specific ions to pass through.
- 13 (often plural) a means of communication or access wordnet
- 14 A gutter; a groove, as in a fluted column.
- 15 a deep and relatively narrow body of water (as in a river or a harbor or a strait linking two larger bodies) that allows the best passage for vessels wordnet
- 16 A structural member with a cross section shaped like a squared-off letter C.
"The channel is not very efficient as a beam or column when used alone, but built-up members may be constructed of channels assembled together with other structural shapes and connected by rivets or welds."
- 17 a long narrow furrow cut either by a natural process (such as erosion) or by a tool (as e.g. a groove in a phonograph record) wordnet
- 18 A connection between initiating and terminating nodes of a circuit.
"The guard-rail provided the channel between the downed wire and the tree."
- 19 The narrow conducting portion of a MOSFET transistor.
- 20 The part that connects a data source to a data sink.
"A channel stretches between them."
- 21 A path for conveying electrical or electromagnetic signals, usually distinguished from other parallel paths.
"We are using one of the 24 channels."
- 22 A single path provided by a transmission medium via physical separation, such as by multipair cable.
"The channel is created by bonding the signals from these four pairs."
- 23 A single path provided by a transmission medium via spectral or protocol separation, such as by frequency or time-division multiplexing.
"Their call is being carried on channel 6 of the T-1 line."
- 24 A specific radio frequency or band of frequencies, usually in conjunction with a predetermined letter, number, or codeword, and allocated by international agreement.
"KNDD is the channel at 107.7 MHz in Seattle."
- 25 A specific radio frequency or band of frequencies used for transmitting television.
"NBC is on channel 11 in San Jose."
- 26 The portion of a storage medium, such as a track or a band, that is accessible to a given reading or writing station or head.
"This chip in this disk drive is the channel device."
- 27 The part of a turbine pump where the pressure is built up.
"The liquid is pressurized in the lateral channel."
- 28 A distribution channel.
- 29 A particular area for conversations on an IRC or similar network, analogous to a chat room and often dedicated to a specific topic. Internet
"The excerpt in Figure 1 below shows a list of some channel names as they appear to an IRC user. The left hand column displays the channel name, the middle column displays how many people are currently on the channel, and the right hand column indicates the theme of the channel or the current topic of conversation: […]"
- 30 A means of delivering up-to-date Internet content via a push mechanism. Internet, historical
"Netcaster is the "receiver" for channels that are built into Netscape 4.01 and later releases."
- 31 A psychic or medium who temporarily takes on the personality of somebody else.
Verb
- 1 To make or cut a channel or groove in. transitive
- 2 send from one person or place to another wordnet
- 3 To direct or guide along a desired course. transitive
"We will channel the traffic to the left with these cones."
- 4 direct the flow of wordnet
- 5 To serve as a medium for. transitive
"She was channeling the spirit of her late husband, Seth."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 transmit or serve as the medium for transmission wordnet
- 7 To follow as a model, especially in a performance. transitive
"He was trying to channel President Reagan, but the audience wasn't buying it."
Proper Noun
- 1 Ellipsis of English Channel: a strait in Europe, separating Great Britain from France and connecting the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Europe, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 2 A former village and district of Channel-Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Example
"The first man that succeed in swimming the Channel was Captain Webb."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "channel"?
Common synonyms include: canal, access, adit, adolescent stream, adviser, agency.
How do you use "channel" in a sentence?
The first man that succeed in swimming the Channel was Captain Webb.
How do you pronounce "channel"?
Pronounced /ˈt͡ʃænəl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English chanel (also as canel, cannel, kanel), a borrowing from Old French chanel, canel, from Latin canālis (“groove; canal; channel”). Doublet of canal.
Etymology 2
From Middle English chanelen, from the noun (see above).
Etymology 3
From chainwale.
Etymology 4
From being a channel.
Etymology 5
Named after the Channel Islands, from where settlers once came from, in the early 18th-century. The Channel Islands are located in the English Channel, a strait (channel) separating the island of Great Britain from the coast of mainland Europe.