Apparent systems of straight-line markings on the surface of Mars, now known to be an illusion caused by the chance alignment of large craters and other surface features. Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli (1835-1910) observed about 100 of what he described as channels. Percival Lowell called them canals and believed them to be evidence of intelligent life. Most astronomers could not see them, and many doubted their reality. The controversy was finally resolved only when pictures from Mariner spacecraft showed nothing resembling a network of channels
A channel, usually open, that conveys water by gravity to farms, municipalities, etc The Hansen Supply Canal carries water from Horsetooth Dam and Reservoir to water users along the Poudre River
A canal is a long, narrow stretch of water that has been made for boats to travel along or to bring water to a particular area. the Grand Union Canal. Venetian canals and bridges
A canal is a narrow tube inside your body for carrying food, air, or other substances. delaying the food's progress through the alimentary canal. a long passage dug into the ground and filled with water, either for boats to travel along, or to take water to a place (canalis , from canna; CANE). Artificial waterway built for transportation, irrigation, water supply, or drainage. The early Middle Eastern civilizations probably first built canals to supply drinking and irrigation water. The most ambitious navigation canal was a 200-mi (320-km) construction in what is now Iraq. Roman canal systems for military transport extended throughout northern Europe and Britain. The most significant canal innovation was the pound lock, developed by the Dutch c. 1373. The closed chamber, or pound, of a lock is flooded or drained of water so that a vessel within it is raised or lowered in order to pass between bodies of water at different elevations. Canals were extremely important before the coming of the railroad in the mid-19th century. Among the significant waterways in the U.S. were the Erie Canal, several canals linking the Great Lakes, and one connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River. Modern waterway engineering enables larger vessels to travel faster by reducing delays at locks. See also Grand Canal, Panama Canal, Suez Canal. Giovanni Antonio Canal alimentary canal anal canal Canal Zone Panama Canal Zone Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Erie Canal Grand Canal Love Canal Lynn Canal Panama Canal Suez Canal Trent Canal Mars canals of
any completely open water channel whether it is used for irrigation, land drainage, water supply, or navigation Rivers were man's first highways, but often contained rapids and falls This was one of the reasons for the beginnings of canal construction Canals would allow most waterways to be accessible for travel by man In addition, canals were used to connect existing waterways enabling man to move from place to place all by water Locks are often associated with canals and allow ships to move through areas that have rising or falling levels of land
long and narrow strip of water made for boats or for irrigation (astronomy) an indistinct surface feature of Mars once thought to be a system of channels; they are now believed to be an optical illusion provide (a city) with a canal
A channel of water originally used for industrial transport, but now more commonly for leisure craft Differs from a river in as far as canals are all man-made
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"
An artificial open waterway constructed to transport water, to irrigate or drain land, to connect two or more bodies of water, or to serve as a waterway for watercraft