channel

Pluralchannels

Formschannels

1. 1
   tv stationnouncountable

   A band of radio frequencies assigned for transmitting television or radio signals, usually identified by a number, as in 'channel seven' or 'channel 16'.

   The local station broadcasts on channel seven.

   Cable providers assign each network to its own channel in the lineup.

   UsageSay on channel seven, and change or switch channels.

   Note

   The broadcasting sense left the engineers and entered the living room. Viewers say a network is "on channel 11," and the number comes to stand for the station itself. Lou Schuler, in his foreword to Nate Green's Built for Show (2008), recalls when "TV back then was five channels": three networks, PBS, and an independent station. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

   • Built for Show was written by Nate Green and contains a foreword by Lou Schuler. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   pathwaynouncountable

   A route or medium by which something passes or is conveyed from one place to another.

   Diplomatic channels remained open even after formal talks collapsed.

   The charity serves as a channel for donations to reach disaster victims.

   UsageOften plural, usually with through: through diplomatic channels, through official channels.

   Similarconduit, avenue, route, medium, means

   Note

   The figurative conduit goes back at least to Edmund Burke, who in 1790 called the weakened French king "but a channel to convey" matters to the National Assembly. Letitia Elizabeth Landon writes in 1834 of "all the various channels by which news travels." Anatomy takes it up too: John Call Dalton's physiology of 1859 calls the veins "converging channels." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • By 1790, Edmund Burke used the figurative sense when describing the weakened French king as a conduit to the National Assembly. publicpolicy.pepperdine.edu
3. 3
   narrow seanouncountable

   A narrow body of water that lies between and separates two land masses.

   Ferries cross the channel between the mainland and the island several times a day.

   The channel between Sicily and the Italian mainland is notoriously turbulent.

   Similarstrait, sound

   Note

   The geographic sense is the one that becomes a proper name. Capitalized, the English Channel names the sea between France and England. Lowercased, it can still mean that one stretch of water when the context makes it plain. Jon Stone's 2018 report from Brussels for The Independent quotes a plea for citizens "on both sides of the channel" and expects no one to ask which. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • The English Channel is the sea between France and England. en.wikipedia.org
   • Jon Stone reported from Brussels for The Independent in 2018. en.wiktionary.org
   • The report quotes a plea concerning citizens using the exact lowercase wording "on both sides of the channel"; the quoted speaker is Ekaterina Zakharieva. independent.co.uk
4. 4
   directverbtransitive

   To direct or guide something along a desired or deliberately chosen course.

   Levees channel the river safely past the city.

   The company channeled its profits into research and development.

   UsageUsually channel something into something: channel profits into research. American channeled, British channelled.

   Similardirect, guide, funnel, steer, route

5. 5
   sales routenouncountable

   The route by which goods or services pass from producer to consumer, such as wholesalers, retailers, or direct sales.

   The brand cut out retailers and sells through a direct-to-consumer channel.

   Adding grocery stores as a channel doubled the snack maker's reach.

   UsageA product sells through a channel; in business talk it is short for distribution channel.

   Similaroutlet, route

6. 6
   separate signalnouncountable

   A separate path along which a signal travels, kept apart from others by physical wiring, frequency, or time slot, as in the two channels of a stereo recording.

   Stereo recordings use two channels, one for each speaker.

   Each color in the video signal travels on its own channel.

   Note

   The word is at its most natural in the plural here. A channel is one of several paths running side by side, numbered so they can be told apart, as in "one of the 24 channels." The paths may be kept apart by separate wires, or share one line by using different frequencies or time slots. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • Communication channels can be separated by physical wiring, frequency or time slots. en.wikipedia.org
   • A transmission system can have 24 channels; the number in the example is technically plausible. en.wikipedia.org
7. 7
   river bednouncountable

   The bed along which a river or stream flows, or the bed of the sea or another body of water.

   Over centuries, the river carved a deep channel through the limestone.

   Floodwater spilled over when the stream rose above its channel.

   Similarbed, riverbed, course

   Note

   Here is the word's oldest layer: Middle English chanel, also spelled canel or kanel, borrowed from Old French and going back to Latin canālis, "groove, canal." Canal is its doublet, the same Latin word arriving by a second route, which is why the two still overlap. In this sense the channel is the hollow bed itself, so a stream can rise above its channel and spill out. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • Canal and channel are doublets, descending from the same Latin word through different routes. en.wiktionary.org
   • A stream can rise beyond its channel and overflow. weather.gov
8. 8
   chat roomnouncountable

   On IRC or a similar network, a space for group conversation, comparable to a chat room and frequently devoted to one topic.

   The developers coordinate releases in a dedicated channel on the company server.

   Newcomers are asked to read the rules before posting in the channel.

   UsageUsers are in (or on IRC, on) a channel, and post in it.

   Note

   This online meeting place became widely known through IRC. Each channel has a name and a population, and users are said to be on it. Christopher Werry, in a 1996 study of Internet Relay Chat, describes a listing that shows each channel name beside "how many people are currently on the channel."

9. 9
   boat route (river)nouncountable

   The deeper part of a river, harbor, or other shallow stretch of water, natural or dredged, along which ships can pass.

   River pilots guide cargo ships along the channel between the sandbanks.

   Falling water levels narrowed the channel and halted barge traffic for a week.

   UsageCommon in shipping channel and navigation channel.

10. 10
    cell openingnouncountable

    A pore-forming protein in a cell membrane that lets specific ions pass through.

    A sodium channel opens briefly to admit ions into the neuron.

    Certain drugs block the channel so ions can no longer pass.

    Note

    In biochemistry the bare word is shorthand for ion channel. It names a protein rather than a gap: it forms a pore through the cell membrane. Its defining trait is selectivity, since it admits specific ions rather than anything small enough to fit. The image is the general sense of a conduit carried down to the molecular scale. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • An ion channel is a membrane protein that forms a pore through which ions pass. en.wikipedia.org
    • Ion channels selectively admit ions rather than allowing passage solely according to size. ks.uiuc.edu
11. 11
    data linknouncountable

    The part of a system that connects a data source to a data sink and carries information between them.

    The channel between sender and receiver dropped several packets.

    Designers widened the channel to move more data each second.

    Similarlink

    Note

    Communication theory pictures every link as a source, a sink, and something between them, and the word names that middle term. It is deliberately abstract. The channel is simply whatever does the connecting, so a sentence like "a channel stretches between them" needs to say nothing about wires or waves. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • A communication channel connects a data source to a data sink. en.wikipedia.org
    • Communication theory treats the channel abstractly, without requiring a particular physical medium. home.csulb.edu
12. 12
    groovenouncountable

    A gutter or groove cut along a surface, such as the flutes of a column.

    A shallow channel in the stone floor carried wastewater out of the kitchen.

    Vertical channels run the height of each marble column on the temple's facade.

    Similargroove, gutter, flute

13. 13
    video pagenouncountable

    The page on a video-sharing or social media site where a person or organization posts their content, YouTube being a typical example.

    The museum launched a YouTube channel to share short behind-the-scenes clips.

    Several small gaming channels lost subscribers after the platform changed how it recommends videos.

    Note

    The language of broadcasting carried over to the creator's page: like a television station's frequency, a channel is something an audience tunes in to, except that anyone can run one. The verbs that go with it are start, launch and grow, and its audience is counted in subscribers rather than viewers, so channels gain or lose subscribers.

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