channel

 
Pronunciation: /ˈtʃan(ə)l/

noun

  • 1a length of water wider than a strait, joining two larger areas of water, especially two seas.
  • (the Channel) the English Channel: the movement has spread across the Channel
  • a navigable passage in a stretch of water otherwise unsafe for vessels: buoys marked the safe limits of the channel
  • a hollow bed for a natural or artificial waterway: the river is confined in a narrow channel
  • 2a band of frequencies used in radio and television transmission, especially as used by a particular station.
  • a service or station using a channel of frequencies: a new television channel
  • 3a method or system for communication or distribution: they didn’t apply through the proper channels some companies have a variety of sales channels
  • 4an electric circuit which acts as a path for a signal: an audio channel
  • Electronics the semiconductor region in a field-effect transistor that forms the main current path between the source and the drain.
  • 5 Biology a tubular passage or duct for liquid: fish eggs have a small channel called the micropyle

verb (channels, channelling, channelled; US channels, channeling, channeled)

[with object]
  • 1direct towards a particular end or object: the council is to channel public funds into training schemes
  • cause to pass along or through a specified route or medium: many countries channel their aid through charities
  • (of a person) serve as a medium for (a spirit): she was channeling the spirit of Billie Holiday
  • emulate or seem to be inspired by: Meg Ryan plays Avery as if she’s channelling Nicole Kidman
  • 2 (usually as adjective channelled) form channels or grooves in: pottery with a distinctive channelled decoration

Derivatives

channeller

noun

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French chanel, from Latin canalis 'pipe, groove, channel', from canna 'reed' (see cane). Compare with canal

Word Trends

Mediums claim that they can channel the dead, allowing spirits to enter their bodies and communicate through them. This concept has been extended metaphorically to describe actors or musicians whose performances are strongly influenced by a predecessor, or just to comment on the style adopted by a noteworthy person. The path from the original psychic use can be clearly traced in some examples: middle-aged white guys in acid-washed jeans think they can channel the ghost of Muddy Waters. However, the sense is now commonly expressed without any reference to spirits or ghosts, with the object not necessarily being dead: Griffiths, as Morris’s wife, seems to be channelling the mid-'80s Debra Winger. The word can suggest a level of falseness or artifice in stealing someone else’s ideas or image, and is often applied to politicians: the presidential hopeful channelled his old idol, John F. Kennedy

Spelling rule

Double the l when adding endings which begin with a vowel to words which end in a vowel plus l (as in travel): (channels, channelling, channelled).