▪ I. channel, n.1
(ˈtʃænəl)
Forms: 3–7 chanel, 4 chanelle, 4–7 chanell, (6 chenell), 6–7 channell, 6– channel.
[ME. chanel, a. OF. chanel, ‘old form of canal’ (Littré):—L. canāl-em; see canal, which also compare for the senses.]
I. A channel of running water, or the like.
1. The hollow bed of running waters; also, the bed of the sea or other body of water.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22563 Of hir chanel þe see sal rise. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiii. iii. (1495) 442 Somtyme by grete reyne..the water in a ryuer arysith and passith the chanel and brymmes. 1480 Caxton Descr. Brit. 7 That riuer..leueth ofte the chanel. 1563 Mirr. Mag., Hastings xlii, Flye from thy chanell Thames. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. iv. 130 The Chanels of Rivers [will be] corroded by the Streams. 1698 J. Keill Exam. The. Earth (1734) 129 They would fill the great Channel of the Ocean if it were empty. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 19 A River, or rather a Channel of a River, for it was now almost dry. 1789 Burns Mary in Heaven, As streams their channels deeper wear. 1880 Haughton Phys. Geog. v. 226 The water in the second and third channels has a..quicker flow than in the main channel. |
† 2. A rivulet, a stream.
Obs.| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 422/1 They came to a ruysel or chanel. c 1535 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 916 The broke or chenell, le ruisseau. 1586 R. Scot Holinshed in Thynne's Animadv. (1865) App. 87 When the flood came, the chanell did so suddenlie swell. a 1656 Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. (1851) 24 Many drops fill the channels; and many channels swell up the brooks. 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4122/3 The Navigation of the Fleet Chanel. |
3. An artificial course for running water or any liquid.
a. The watercourse in a street or by a roadway, the gutter; see
esp. quot. 1876;
= canal 2 a,
kennel n.2 Still common locally.
[Earlier examples under form
canal,
q.v.]
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 69 Chanelle of a strete, canalis, aquagium. 1579 Lyly Euphues 38 Dronken sottes wallowing..in every channel. 1628 Bp. Hall Quo Vadis? §20 Euery obscure holy-day takes the wall of it, and thrusts it into the channell. 1726 Vanbrugh Journ. London iii. i, Overturned in the channel as we were going to the play⁓house. 1876 Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss., Channel, a long gutter sunk below the surface of a body, as in a street. 1882 Halliwell-Phillips Outl. Life Shaks. (ed. 2) 18 House slops were recklessly thrown into ill-kept channels that lined the sides of unmetalled roads. |
| attrib. 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie i. iii. 185 Scraping base channell roguerie. |
b. Founding. A trough to conduct melted metal to the pig-bed or mould.
4. Geog. a. A (comparatively) narrow piece of water, wider than a mere ‘strait’, connecting two larger pieces, usually seas.
the Channel:
spec. the English Channel (
Fr. la Manche).
b. A navigable passage between shallows in an estuary etc.:
e.g. the Thomas Channel, Queen's Channel, South Channel, at the mouth of the Thames.
| 1553 Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 22 The sea in certaine chanels is of such heigth and depth, that no anker may come to the bottome. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. i. 114, I go of Message from the Queene to France: I charge thee waft me safely crosse the Channell. 1727 Swift Imit. Horace Wks. 1755 III. ii. 48 Cou'd I but live on this side Trent, Nor cross the channel twice a year. 1786 Watson Philip III (1839) III. 117 The island [in the Rhine]..is separated by a narrow channel from the town. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. x. (1852) 217 This [Beagle] Channel which was discovered by Capt. Fitz Roy during the last voyage. 1874 Blackie Self-Cult. 89 Our gay Celtic neighbours across the Channel. Mod. Wreck in St. George's channel. |
† 5. An artificial waterway for boats;
= canal.
| 1612 Drayton Poly-olb xxvi. (1748) 369 And her a channell call because she is so slow. 1644 Evelyn Diary (1871) 159 The Channells [at Venice] which answer to our streetes. 1683 Weekly Mem. Ingen. 30 The Chanel of Languedoc. |
6. a. A tube or tubular passage, natural or artificial, usually for liquids or fluids. (Now usually less technical than
canal.)
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 389 A greet pestilence of euel in þe chanelles of men at þe neþer ende. 1578 Timme Calvin on Gen. 199 Certain chanels or veins of the earth. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 4 The Stings in all Bees are hollow..so that when they prick the flesh, they do also, through that channel, transfuse the poyson into it. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn., Ductus Pancreaticus, is a little Channel, which arises from the Pancreas or sweet-bread, running all along the middle of it. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. v. (1879) 96 The poison channel in its [a snake's] fangs. 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. I. 266 E, a door for the introduction of coke through the channel F. 1875 Bennett & Dyer tr. Sachs' Bot. ii. v. 498 The style..may be penetrated by a channel consisting of a narrow elongation of the cavity of the ovary. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 189 A channel through which heated matter is erupted from below. |
b. Mining. An air conduit or pipe in a mine.
II. fig. from I.
7. (from 1.) Course in which anything moves onward; line of action, thought, etc.
| [1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 521 Certaine..Mountaines, through which this Riuer passeth with a streight channel.] 1631 Heywood London's Jus Hon. Wks. 1874 IV. 271 Keepe the even Channell, and be neither swayde, To the right hand nor left. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) II. 518 Their affections so turned into their proper chanels. 1727 Swift What in Lond. Wks. 1755 III. i. 190 The world went on in the old channel. 1779 J. Moore View Soc. Fr. (1789) I. xxix. 249 The conversation happening to turn into this channel. 1857 Livingstone Trav. ii. 34 Turning [his] abilities..into that channel in which he was most likely to excel. |
8. That through which information, news, trade, or the like passes; a medium of transmission, conveyance, or communication; means agency.
| 1537 Latimer Serm. bef. Convoc. 6 A foule filthy chanel of all mischiefes. 1684 T. Burnet Th. Earth II. 174 Another chanel wherein this doctrine is traditionally deriv'd from St. John. 1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade Introd. 12 The Preservation of the great Channels of Trade. 1748 Hartley Observ. Man i. iii. §1. 320 A pure Chanel of Conveyance for Truth. 1785 Reid Int. Powers 277 Knowledge..comes by another channel. 1793 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 98, I inquired of him the channel of his information. 1848 Mill Pol. Econ. II. 194 No new..channel for investment has been opened. 1863 Kinglake Crimea (1876) I. xi. 166 He sought it..through the legitimate channel. 1875 H. E. Manning Mission H. Ghost i. 15 Channels of grace. |
III. transferred variously.
9. a. A lengthened groove or furrow on any surface;
spec. in
Arch. a fluting of a column; in
Masons' work, a long groove or furrow cut in the line along which a stone is to be split.
| 1682 Wheler Journ. Greece i. 48 [Pillars with] their Fusts cut into Angles, about the breadth of an usual Channel. 1753 Hogarth Anal. Beauty xii. 174 Observe the cavetto, or channel, in a cornice. 1850 J. Leitch tr. Müller's Anc. Art §277 The external surface of the column is..divided..into mere channels or flutings. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. III. 2 Each carpel is marked by five vertical ridges..these ridges..are separated by channels. |
b. In the
Manège: see quot;
Naut. the rope track in a tackle-block;
Shoemaking: see
quot.| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Channel, in the manege, is used for that concavity in the middle of the lower jaw of a horse, where the tongue lies. 1874 Harper's Mag. 26 Sept. 802 (Hoppe) She wore English channel shoes. 1874 Leslie's Illust. Newspr. 10 Oct. 74 (Hoppe) What are English channel-shoes? Sewed shoes have the seam that unites the sole and upper sunk into a channel cut in the sole..As it cannot be cut in thin poor leather, it indicates a good article. |
c. A circuit for the transmission of communications in telegraphy.
| 1848 Brit. Pat. 12,039 17 Each of the three [telegraph] circuits..is then split as it were into three different channels. 1922 Telegr. & Teleph. Jrnl. Oct. 8/1 The whole telegraph position in this country is changed by the fact that eight channels..can be equipped on one wire. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 902/2 Two coaxials [sc. coaxial cables] can provide..1,800 telephone channels. 1959 Wire & Radio Communication XII. 7/2 The 36 message channels in the deep sea cable. |
d. A band of frequencies of sufficient width for the transmission of a radio or television signal;
spec. a television service using such a band.
| 1928 Television I. No. ii. 20/2 A very short wavelength was chosen for broadcasting these ‘pictures’ because a channel 40 kilocycles wide is needed. 1930 Engineering 31 Oct. 541/3 Five independent radio-telephone channels will..be available. 1935 Discovery Aug. 240/2 Automatic transmitting and high-speed recording is provided for one transmitting and one receiving channel. 1941 B.B.C. Gloss. Broadc. Terms 6 Channel, electrical or electro-magnetic path (such as a circuit, line, or radio-link) for a programme output. 1958 Spectator 1 Aug. 167/2 Go over to Channel 9 and who do you see? 1958 Listener 9 Oct. 553/1 One has less real choice from four [television] channels in Washington than one has from only two in London. 1960 in Rep. Comm. Broadc. (1962) 334 We feel that the 625-line standard with a total channel width of 8 Mc/s represents the best compromise. |
e. Short for
channel bar: see 12.
| 1904 Westm. Gaz. 22 Aug. 5/1 Structural material, such as joists, channels, and other sectional bars. 1970 Financial Times 13 Apr. 21/3 Small orders for special rollings—for, perhaps, 100 tons of 6-inch by 3-inch channel. |
f. Other
techn. uses.
| 1836 Ann. Electr., Magn. & Chem. Oct. 42 A coil of copper wire excited by magnetic action will become a channel for an electric current. 1955 W. Pauli N. Bohr 137 The decay through a given channel is the inverse of the formation of a compound nucleus through the same channel. 1958 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 964/2 Channel, a passage through the core of a reactor for the location of fuel elements, specimens for radiation or the flow of coolant. 1961 W. Haggard Arena xviii. 161 He walked to the control desk quickly. ‘Channel Nine. Where's that flight going, please?’ 1962 Gloss. Terms Autom. Data Processing (B.S.I.) 87 Channel, a path or aggregate of related paths for carrying signals between a source and a destination. 1964 L. Wilets Theories Nucl. Fission vii. 114 In the formal theory of nuclear reactions, a channel is defined according to the quantum numbers of the asymptotic wave function of the system. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 255/1 In the digital averager we have designed and built, only 1,024 bits are available for each of four channels. 1969 Computers & Humanities IV. 131 Input: 6-channel tape (linotype) used for newspaper typesetting. |
† 10. The neck; the throat. (An ancient sense in the parallel form
canel; see
cannel 5, and
cf. cannel-bone,
channel-bone.)
Obs.| ? c 1450 J. Capgrave St. Kath. 97 Thei wil breke my chaneles and my throte. 1590 Marlowe 2nd Pt. Tamburl. i. iii. 102, I will strike And cleave him to the channel with my sword. |
11. Sc. Gravel. [being the material of which the
channel or bed of a river is composed.]
| 1743 Maxwell Trans. Soc. Improv. Agric. 109 (Jam.) Having only sand and channel below it. |
12. attrib. and
Comb., as
channel-bed (
= sense 1),
channel-tile,
channel-way; (sense 4)
channel fleet,
channel steamer,
channel tunnel, etc.;
channel bar, an iron bar or beam flanged to form a channel on one side;
channel bass, one of several names of the red-fish,
Sciænops ocellatus;
channel-bill, an Australian bird,
Scythrops Novæ Hollandiæ;
channel cat(-fish) U.S., any of several species of catfish,
esp. of the genus
Ictalurus;
† channel-dirt, mud from the gutter (see 3 a);
Channel Fleet, the portion of the British fleet detailed for service in the English Channel;
Channel 4 (also
Four), a fourth national television channel in the
U.K. (after BBC 1, BBC 2, and ITV), put into operation in 1982 by the Independent Broadcasting Authority to broadcast programmes,
esp. those of minority interest, from independent contractors;
channel iron, (
a)
= channel bar; also, the concave metal support of a rubber tyre; (
b) a support for the guttering of a building (Knight
Dict. Mech. a 1877);
Channel Islands, the name of a group of islands in the English Channel used (chiefly
attrib.) to designate breeds of cattle originating there (see
Alderney,
Guernsey 2 b,
Jersey1 4) or their milk; also in
sing.;
channel-leaved a. Bot. (see
quot.);
† channel-raker, a scavenger, a low mean fellow;
= kennel-raker;
channel seam, a seam outlined on each side by stitching; so
channel seaming;
channel-section = channel-shaped section (see next);
channel-shaped a., shaped like the section of a channel bar;
channel-shoe (see 9 b);
channel-stone, (
a) a stone used in paving gutters; (
b) (
-stane), a stone used in the game of curling (
Sc.);
Channel tunnel, a (projected) tunnel under the English Channel linking the coasts of England and France; also
fig.;
channelward(s adv., in the direction of the English Channel;
† channel-water, gutter-water. See also
channel-bone.
| 1904 G. P. Neele Railway Remin. 219 Some *channel bars of iron on a down goods train..had gradually shifted. |
| 1889 Cent. Dict., *Channel-bass, a sciænoid fish,..the redfish. 1897 Outing (U.S.) XXIX. 231/2 The channel-bass, or ‘redfish’, which sometimes attains a weight of fifty pounds. |
| 1848 Aytoun Danube & Eux. 12 Glorious tokens do I bring thee From my distant *channel-bed. |
| 1838 J. P. Kirtland in Rep. Geol. Survey Ohio 1837–38 169 Pimelobus pallidus,..*Channel cat-fish. 1855 S. F. Baird in Smithsonian Inst. Rep. 1854 341 The sea-cat or channel-cat. 1888 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 17 People who like fish in Atlanta are eating..channel-cat and black bass. 1897 Outing (U.S.) XXX. 439/1 What the boys called ‘channel-cats’ were taken from midstream by long hand-lines. 1913 W. Cather O Pioneers! 29 Twice every summer she sent the boys to the river..to fish for channel cat. |
| 1688 Shadwell Sqr. Alsatia v. 92 A lather made of *channel dirt. |
| 1788 Dyott Diary Aug. (1907) I. 50 He had been cruising with the *Channel Fleet for three weeks. 1831 J. Watkins William the Fourth i. ii. 36 The encounter of the channel-fleet with the combined French and Spanish squadrons. 1904 Admiralty Order in Times 12 Dec. 4/1 The present so-called Home Fleet is henceforth to be known as the Channel Fleet. |
| 1980 Times 30 Jan. 16 (heading) *Channel 4: can the big money be found? 1982 Times 3 Nov. 1/8 Thames Television, relaying the Channel Four programmes in London, said that all the advertising breaks had been filled. 1982 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts Dec. 43/1 Channel 4 is a unitary, national, public service broadcasting channel, cast in a characteristically British mould. 1985 Whitaker's Almanack 1986 1012/2 Horse-racing and party conferences were moved to Channel 4, but the planned move of educational programmes was postponed because some schools were unable to receive the signals. 1986 Daily Tel. 27 May 4/7 Pop-oriented television shows like Channel 4's ‘The Chart Show’ and BBC's ‘Top of The Pops’ may be deprived of their pop videos. |
| 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Terms Mech. Engin., *Channel Iron, rolled wrought iron bar, whose section is that of three sides of a parallelogram, used in bridge and girder work, and for structural purposes generally. 1895 G. J. Burns Gloss. Techn. Terms Archit., Channel iron, wrought iron of U-shaped section. |
| 1875 *Channel Island [see Alderney]. 1950 J. G. Davis Dict. Dairying 95 Channel Island breeds. These include Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney... Channel Island milk. This is now defined as milk from Channel Island cows and containing at least 4 per cent. fat. 1964 Farmers Weekly 28 Aug., Two high quality milks, Channel Islands and homogenised. Ibid., Channel Islands milk..possesses an indisputably higher food value than that of milk with lower butterfat content. |
| 1888 Standard 14 Aug. 3 Of his *Channel journeys, two were to France, one to Holland. |
| 1860 Worcester (citing Loudon) *Channel-leaved.., having leaves folded together so as to resemble a channel. 1961 Times 24 Jan. 12/5 Plastron fronts, occasional flying panels and channel seams were also frequent. 1961 Sunday Express 12 Mar. 14/1 Channel seaming on the jacket. |
| 1563 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 17/2 Neither dooth the popes monarchie lacke his *chanelrakers, etc. |
| 1910 Westm. Gaz. 22 Mar. 5/2 The motor..is mounted..on a *channel-section underframe suspended at three points. 1930 Engineering 2 May 564/1 The bracket..was formed of two channel sections. |
| 1928 C. F. S. Gamble North Sea Air Station xxii. 392 These lighters..were built of steel... The general section was *channel-shaped. |
| 1789 Davidson Seasons 158 (Jam.) The *channelstane, The bracing engine of a Scottish arm. |
| 1460–5 Chw. Accts. St. Andrew's East Cheap in Brit. Mag. XXXI. 396 For *chanel-stone, pauying-stone, etc. 1875 Glen Publ. Health Act iv. (1878) 153 Channel stones. |
| 1851 Turner Dom. Archit. II. Introd. 28 *Channel-tiles. |
| 1888 Standard 14 Aug. 3 The prospects of a *Channel trip were brighter for the rest [of the passengers]. |
| 1869 Times 25 June 5/5 The Channel Tunnel..Project for a submarine tunnel between Dover and a point near Cape Blanc-nez, on the French coast. 1889 G. M. Hopkins Let. 29 Apr. (1935) 304 Rot about babies, a blethery bathos into which Hugo and he [sc. Swinburne] from opposite coasts have long driven Channel-tunnels. 1889 G. B. Shaw London Music (1937) 178, I wish I could go back by Channel Tunnel. 1957 Encycl. Brit. V. 232/2 The Channel tunnel scheme was shelved again [in 1924] but the idea did not die. |
| 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 96 The works grew..*Channelwards by the deposit of their own slag. 1920 Chambers's Jrnl. 67/2, I waved my hand Channelward. |
| 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, v. iii. 27 Here's *channel water. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. vi. 68 To look for ice-cracks in the level *channel-way. |
▸
Physiol. An opening through which a specific type of ion passes through the plasma membrane of a cell,
esp. a nerve or muscle cell; any of various protein structures that form such openings and control ion movement across the cell membrane.
| 1958A. L. Hodgkin in Proc. Royal Soc. (B.) 148 32 In parallel with this [secretory] system are the special channels which allow sodium and potassium ions to move at varying rates down their concentration gradients. 1964 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 52 1178 The channels (or paths) by which cations may pass through a membrane are of two types, those suitable for well-hydrated ions such as Na+ and Ca++, and those suitable for moderately hydrated ions such as K+. 1971 Science 22 Oct. 415/1 Reduction in mobility should have little influence upon the effectiveness of a molecule which mediates ion permeation by providing a channel that bridges the membrane. 1983 B. Alberts et al. Molecular Biol. Cell xviii. 1025 (caption) Recording of the current through individual voltage-gated Na+ channels in a patch of membrane. 1992 N.Y. Times 4 Aug. c8/5 The chemicals that transmit sensations of salty, sour and bitter tastes affect the workings of so-called ion channels, which normally let sodium into cells and potassium out. 2002 Guardian 16 May (Online section) 10/4 The batrachotoxins..are powerful activators of proteins found in the cell wall known as sodium ion channels. |
▪ II. ˈchannel, n.2 Naut. [corruption of chain-wale; cf. gunwale (ˈgʌnəl).]
1. One of the broad thick planks projecting horizontally from the ship's side, nearly abreast of the masts. They are distinguished as the fore, main, and mizen channels.
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Channels, or Chain-Wales of a ship. 1805 in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1846) VII. 207 note, There being a great swell, she damaged the main channels. 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay xi, I took my station in the fore-channels. 1840 R. Dana Bef. Mast xxix. 105 Our unusually large cargo..brought the ship channels down into the water. |
2. Comb., as
channel-board = channel;
channel-bolt, a long bolt passing through all the planks, and connecting the channel with the side;
channel-plate = chain-plate;
channel-wale, one of the ‘strakes worked between the gun-deck and the upper deck ports of large ships; also, the outside plank which receives the bolts of the chain-plates’ (Smyth
Sailor's Word-bk.).
| 1808 Marine Pocket-Dict., Channel-wale, préceinte superieure. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 105 Channel-wales, three or four thick strakes..for the purpose of strengthening the topside. |
▪ III. channel, v. (
ˈtʃænəl)
[f. channel n.1] 1. a. trans. To form channels in; to wear or cut into channels; to furrow, groove, flute.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. i. 7 No more shall trenching Warre channell her fields. 1644 Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 127 Four wreathed columns, partly channelled. 1781 Cowper Truth 174 The streaming tears Channel her cheeks. 1865 Geikie Scen. & Geol. Scotl. vi. 116 Heathery slopes channelled with brooks. 1869 Gillmore Rept. & Birds Introd. 190 The sides of the mandible deeply channelled with nostrils. |
b. spec. To provide (a street) with a channel or gutter for the conveyance of surface-water.
| 1875 Glen Public Health Act iv. (ed. 9) 144 The Urban Authority shall..cause all such streets to be levelled, paved, metalled, flagged, channelled, altered, and repaired. |
2. To excavate or cut out as a channel.
| 1816 Monthly Rev. LXXXI. 246 That vast aqueduct..was then channeled by Sir Hugh Middleton. 1862 D. Wilson Preh. Man iii. (1865) 43 The Ashley River has channeled for itself a course through the eocene and post-pliocene formations of South Carolina. 1871 Smiles Charac. i. (1876) 16 ‘The strong man and the waterfall’ says the proverb ‘channel their own path.’ |
3. To convey through (or as through) a channel.
| 1648 Power in Sir T. Browne's Wks. (1852) III. 485 The urine is channelled all along, with the blood, through almost all the parenchymata of the body. 1657 R. Carpenter Astrol. proved harmless 1 We know not the mysterious..Things of God, but as they have been channel'd to us by God himself in divine Revelation. 1837 Newman Par. Serm. (ed. 2) III. xiv. 213 Gifts of mind..are..channelled out to the many through the few. 1958 Times 31 Jan. 9/7 It [sc. investment] must be channelled in the most remunerative directions. 1958 Daily Express 11 Mar. 14/2 It would be a good thing to have someone to..channel all the enquiries about her. |
† 4. intr. To pass by (or as by) a channel.
Obs.| 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 38 If you observe her [the great Black Snail]..you shall see a little stream of clouds, channel up her belly from her tail to her head. |