channel

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)

• 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