Canal vs. Channel: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Published on February 16, 2024
A canal is a man-made waterway constructed for navigation, irrigation, or water transport, while a channel is a natural or artificial passage for water.
Key Differences
Canals are artificial waterways created by human engineering, designed primarily for transportation, irrigation, or as conduits for water. Channels, on the other hand, can be natural pathways such as river channels, or artificial ones like shipping channels, through which water flows.
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Feb 16, 2024
The construction of a canal involves excavation and building barriers to control water flow. Canals are often linked to existing water bodies to facilitate navigation and water management. Channels, in contrast, may form naturally, such as river channels, or be dredged to improve navigation in rivers and seas.
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Canals have been crucial in history for trade and transportation, linking distant water bodies for the movement of goods and people. Channels play a vital role in directing water flow, which can be important for controlling floods, enabling navigation, or guiding water in marine and riverine ecosystems.
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In terms of usage, canals are often associated with human activities like shipping, irrigation, and even leisure activities. Channels serve a broader set of purposes, including ecological functions in natural water systems, pathways for boats and ships, and in technology, as pathways for broadcasting signals.
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Maintenance differs between the two; canals require regular upkeep to ensure their functionality, including dredging and repair of locks and gates. Natural channels may change over time due to erosion and sediment deposition, while artificial channels like shipping lanes also need maintenance for safe navigation.
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Feb 16, 2024
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Comparison Chart
Purpose
Navigation, irrigation, water transport
Water flow, navigation, ecological functions
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Construction
Involves excavation and construction
Formed naturally or through dredging
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Usage
Trade, transportation, leisure
Water flow control, navigation, broadcasting pathways
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Maintenance
Regular upkeep for functionality
Natural channels change over time, artificial channels need maintenance
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Canal and Channel Definitions
Canal
A conduit for water conveyance.
The canal diverted water to the dry regions of the city.
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Channel
A pathway through which information is transmitted.
They used secure channels for sensitive communications.
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Canal
A water passage created for boat travel.
Tourists enjoyed the boat ride along the scenic canal.
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Channel
A groove or pathway for directing flow.
The channel in the garden directs rainwater away from the house.
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Canal
A man-made waterway used for transportation.
The Panama Canal greatly facilitates international maritime trade.
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Channel
A means of access or interaction.
Customer feedback is encouraged through various channels.
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Canal
An artificial channel filled with water for irrigation.
The canal irrigates the farmland efficiently.
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Canal
An artificial channel for water drainage.
The drainage canal helped to prevent flooding in the area.
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Channel
The deeper part of a river or harbor, especially a deep navigable passage.
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Canal
An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
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Canal
(Astronomy) One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars.
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Channel
A course or pathway through which information is transmitted
New channels of thought.
A reliable channel of information.
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Channel
Often channels A route of communication or access
Took her request through official channels.
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Canal
An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
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Channel
In communications theory, a gesture, action, sound, written or spoken word, or visual image used in transmitting information.
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Channel
(Electronics) A specified frequency band for the transmission and reception of electromagnetic signals, as for television signals.
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Canal
(astronomy) One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars; see Martian canals
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Channel
A continuous program of audio or video content distributed by a television, radio, or internet broadcaster.
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Canal
To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage
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Canal
An artificial channel filled with water and designed for navigation, or for irrigating land, etc.
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Channel
The medium through which a spirit guide purportedly communicates with the physical world.
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Canal
A tube or duct; as, the alimentary canal; the semicircular canals of the ear.
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Canal
A long and relatively narrow arm of the sea, approximately uniform in width; - used chiefly in proper names; as, Portland Canal; Lynn Canal.
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Canal
(astronomy) an indistinct surface feature of Mars once thought to be a system of channels; they are now believed to be an optical illusion
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Canal
A bodily passage or tube lined with epithelial cells and conveying a secretion or other substance;
The tear duct was obstructed
The alimentary canal
Poison is released through a channel in the snake's fangs
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Channel
A wood or steel ledge projecting from a sailing ship's sides to spread the shrouds and keep them clear of the gunwales.
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Channel
To direct or guide along some desired course
Channels her curiosity into research.
Channel young people into good jobs.
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Channel
To use or follow as a model; imitate
A politician channeling bygone conservatives to appear stronger on defense.
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Channel
The physical confine of a river or slough, consisting of a bed and banks.
The water coming out of the waterwheel created a standing wave in the channel.
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Channel
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.
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Channel
The navigable part of a river.
We were careful to keep our boat in the channel.
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Channel
A narrow body of water between two land masses.
The English Channel lies between France and England.
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Channel
Something through which another thing passes; a means of conveying or transmitting.
The news was conveyed to us by different channels.
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Channel
A structural member with a cross section shaped like a squared-off letter C.
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Channel
(electronics) A connection between initiating and terminating nodes of a circuit.
The guard-rail provided the channel between the downed wire and the tree.
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Channel
(electronics) The narrow conducting portion of a MOSFET transistor.
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Channel
(communication) The part that connects a data source to a data sink.
A channel stretches between them.
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Channel
(communication) A path for conveying electrical or electromagnetic signals, usually distinguished from other parallel paths.
We are using one of the 24 channels.
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Channel
(communication) 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.
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Channel
(communication) 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.
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Channel
(broadcasting) 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.
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Channel
(broadcasting) A specific radio frequency or band of frequencies used for transmitting television.
NBC is on channel 11 in San Jose.
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Channel
(storage) 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.
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Channel
The part of a turbine pump where the pressure is built up.
The liquid is pressurized in the lateral channel.
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Channel
(Internet) A particular area for conversations on an IRC network, analogous to a chat room and often dedicated to a specific topic.
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Channel
A psychic or medium who temporarily takes on the personality of somebody else.
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Channel
(nautical) 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.
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Channel
(transitive) To direct or guide along a desired course.
We will channel the traffic to the left with these cones.
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Channel
To serve as a medium for.
She was channeling the spirit of her late husband, Seth.
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Channel
(transitive) To follow as a model, especially in a performance.
He was trying to channel President Reagan, but the audience wasn't buying it.
When it is my turn to sing karaoke, I am going to channel Ray Charles.
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Channel
The deeper part of a river, harbor, strait, etc., where the main current flows, or which affords the best and safest passage for vessels.
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Channel
A strait, or narrow sea, between two portions of lands; as, the British Channel.
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Channel
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.
At best, he is but a channel to convey to the National assembly such matter as may import that body to know.
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Channel
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.
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Channel
Official routes of communication, especially the official means by which information should be transmitted in a bureaucracy; as, to submit a request through channels; you have to go through channels.
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Channel
A band of electromagnetic wave frequencies that is used for one-way or two-way radio communication; especially, the frequency bands assigned by the FTC for use in television broadcasting, and designated by a specific number; as, channel 2 in New York is owned by CBS.
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Channel
One of the signals in an electronic device which receives or sends more than one signal simultaneously, as in stereophonic radios, records, or CD players, or in measuring equipment which gathers multiple measurements simultaneously.
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Channel
An opening in a cell membrane which serves to actively transport or allow passive transport of substances across the membrane; as, an ion channel in a nerve cell.
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Channel
A path for transmission of signals between devices within a computer or between a computer and an external device; as, a DMA channel.
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Channel
To form a channel in; to cut or wear a channel or channels in; to groove.
No more shall trenching war channel her fields.
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Channel
A path over which electrical signals can pass;
A channel is typically what you rent from a telephone company
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Channel
A passage for water (or other fluids) to flow through;
The fields were crossed with irrigation channels
Gutters carried off the rainwater into a series of channels under the street
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Channel
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)
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Channel
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;
The ship went aground in the channel
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Channel
(often plural) a means of communication or access;
It must go through official channels
Lines of communication were set up between the two firms
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Channel
A bodily passage or tube lined with epithelial cells and conveying a secretion or other substance;
The tear duct was obstructed
The alimentary canal
Poison is released through a channel in the snake's fangs
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Channel
A television station and its programs;
A satellite TV channel
Surfing through the channels
They offer more than one hundred channels
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Channel
A way of selling a company's product either directly or via distributors;
Possible distribution channels are wholesalers or small retailers or retail chains or direct mailers or your own stores
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Channel
Transmit or serve as the medium for transmission;
Sound carries well over water
The airwaves carry the sound
Many metals conduct heat
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Channel
A natural or artificial passage for water.
The English Channel separates Southern England from northern France.
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Channel
A medium for communication or expression.
The news was broadcasted on multiple TV channels.
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Repeatedly Asked Queries
What is a channel?
A channel is a natural or artificial passage for the flow of water.
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Feb 16, 2024
Are channels always natural?
Channels can be either natural, like river channels, or man-made.
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Feb 16, 2024
What is a canal?
A canal is a man-made waterway built for navigation and transportation.
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Feb 16, 2024
What's the purpose of a canal?
Canals are built for transportation, water supply, or irrigation.
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Can channels be used for communication?
In a broader sense, yes, like TV or radio channels.
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Can canals link seas and oceans?
Yes, canals like the Suez Canal link different seas and oceans.
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Can canals be used for irrigation?
Yes, canals are often used for irrigation purposes.
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What's the purpose of a channel?
Channels facilitate water flow and are used for navigation and ecological balance.
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Do channels help in flood control?
Natural channels can play a role in controlling floods.
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Do channels need maintenance?
Yes, especially artificial channels require regular maintenance.
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Do channels occur in technology?
Yes, channels are used for signal transmission in technology.
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Is the Panama Canal a significant waterway?
Yes, it's a vital canal for international maritime trade.
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Do channels have ecological importance?
Yes, they are crucial for ecological balance in water systems.
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How are canals constructed?
Canals are constructed through excavation and building barriers.
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Are there famous canals for tourism?
Yes, such as the Venice Canals in Italy.
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Can channels change over time?
Natural channels can change due to erosion and sediment deposition.
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What are shipping channels?
Shipping channels are specific routes in seas or rivers for safe navigation.
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How do canals benefit agriculture?
Canals provide a steady water supply for irrigation in agriculture.
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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