Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Channel
1.
The hollow bed where a stream of water runs or may run.
2.
The deeper part of a river, harbor, strait, etc., where the main current flows, or which affords the best and safest passage for vessels.
3.
(Geog.)
A strait, or narrow sea, between two portions of lands;
as, the British
. Channel
4.
That through which anything passes; a means of passing, conveying, or transmitting;
as, the news was conveyed to us by different
. channels
The veins are converging
channels
. Dalton.
At best, he is but a
channel
to convey to the National assembly such matter as may import that body to know. Burke.
5.
A gutter; a groove, as in a fluted column.
6.
pl.
[Cf.
Chain wales
.] (Naut.)
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.
Channel bar
,
Channel iron
(Arch.)
, an iron bar or beam having a section resembling a flat gutter or channel.
– Channel bill
(Zool.)
, a very large Australian cuckoo (
– Scythrops Novæhollandiæ
. Channel goose
. (Zool.)
See
Gannet
.Chan′nel
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Channeled
, or Channelled
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Channeling
, or Channelling
.] 1.
To form a channel in; to cut or wear a channel or channels in; to groove.
No more shall trenching war
channel
her fields. Shakespeare
2.
To course through or over, as in a channel.
Cowper.
Webster 1828 Edition
Channel
CHANNEL
, n.1.
In a general sense, a passage; a place of passing or flowing; particularly, a water course.2.
The place where a river flows, including the whole breadth of the river. But more appropriately, the deeper part or hollow in which the principal current flows.3.
The deeper part of a strait, bay, or harbor, where the principal current flows, either of tide or fresh water, or which is the most convenient for the track of a ship.4.
That through which any thing passes; means of passing, conveying, or transmitting; as, the news was conveyed to us by different channels.5.
A gutter or furrow in a column.6.
An arm of the sea; a straight or narrow sea, between two continents, or between a continent and an isle; as the British or Irish channel.7.
Channels of a ship. [See Chain-wales.]CHANNEL
,Verb.
T.