[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

canal \canal"\, n. f. canal, from l. canalis canal, channel;
   prob. from a root signifying "to cut"; cf. d. kanaal, fr. the
   french. cf. channel, kennel gutter.
   1913 webster
   1. an artificial channel filled with water and designed for
      navigation, or for irrigating land, etc.
      1913 webster

   2. anat. a tube or duct; as, the alimentary canal; the
      semicircular canals of the ear.
      1913 webster

   3. a long and relatively narrow arm of the sea, approximately
      uniform in width; -- used chiefly in proper names; as,
      portland canal; lynn canal. alaska
      webster 1913 suppl.

   canal boat, a boat for use on a canal; esp. one of peculiar
      shape, carrying freight, and drawn by horses walking on
      the towpath beside the canal.

   canal lock. see lock.
      1913 webster
see also:
channel kennel canal boat canal lock lock 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

canal
     n 1: astronomy an indistinct surface feature of mars once
          thought to be a system of channels; they are now
          believed to be an optical illusion
     2: 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" syn: duct,
         epithelial duct, channel
     3: long and narrow strip of water made for boats or for
        irrigation
     v : provide a city with a canal syn: canalize, canalise
     also: canalling, canalled
see also:
duct epithelial duct channel canalize canalise canalling 
canalled 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

104 moby thesaurus words for "canal":
   eustachian tube, fallopian tube, aqueduct, arroyo, bed, bottleneck,
   canalization, canalize, carve, chamfer, channel, chisel, conduit,
   corrugate, course, crack, creek bed, crimp, culvert, cut, dado,
   defile, dike, ditch, donga, dry bed, duct, emunctory, engrave,
   entrenchment, fistula, flume, flute, fosse, furrow, gash, goffer,
   gouge, groove, gulch, gully, gullyhole, gutter, ha-ha, headrace,
   incise, intestines, irrigation ditch, isthmus, kennel, meatus,
   moat, narrow, narrows, neck, nullah, ostium, oviduct, pass, pleat,
   plow, pore, rabbet, race, rifle, river bed, riverway, runnel, rut,
   salpinx, score, scratch, slit, sluice, spillbox, spillway, strait,
   streak, stream bed, streamway, striate, sunk fence, swash,
   swash channel, tailrace, thoracic duct, throat, trench, trough,
   ureter, urethra, vagina, vas, vessel, wadi, water carrier,
   water channel, water furrow, water gap, water gate, watercourse,
   waterway, waterworks, wrinkle

[4] : Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

canal. a trench dug for leading water in a particular direction, and 
confining it. 
     2. public canals are generally protected by the law which authorizes 
their being made. various points have arisen under numerous laws authorizing 
the construction of canals, which have been decided in cases reported in 1 
yeates, 430; 1 binn. 70; 1 pennsyl. 462; 2 pennsyl. 517; 7 mass. 169; 1 
sumu. 46; 20 johns. 103, 735; 2 johns. 283; 7 john. ch. 315; 1 wend. 474; 5 
wend. 166; 8 wend. 469; 4 wend. 667; 6 cowen, 698; 7 cowen, 526 4 hamm. 253; 
5 hamm. 141, 391; 6 hamm. 126; 1 n. h. rep. 339; see river. 

Canal >> C Words
Canal, definition of term: Canal
canal_pag1.html

Stone Canal >> S Words
Stone Canal, definition of term: Stone Canal
stone+canal_pag1.html

Root Canal >> R Words
Root Canal, definition of term: Root Canal
root+canal_pag1.html

Ear Canal >> E Words
Ear Canal, definition of term: Ear Canal
ear+canal_pag1.html

Auditory Canal >> A Words
Auditory Canal, definition of term: Auditory Canal
auditory+canal_pag1.html

Erie Canal >> E Words
Erie Canal, definition of term: Erie Canal
erie+canal_pag1.html