channel meaning and definition

CHANNEL noun

Definition of channel (noun)

1. a path over which electrical signals can pass
   • "a channel is typically what you rent from a telephone company"
   • synonyms: transmission channel
2. a passage for water (or other fluids) to flow through
   • "the fields were crossed with irrigation channels"; "gutters carried off the rainwater into a series of channels under the street"
3. a long narrow furrow cut either by a natural process (such as erosion) or by a tool (as e.g. a groove in a phonograph record)
   • synonyms: groove
4. a deep and relatively narrow body of water (as in a river or a harbor or a strait linking two larger bodies) that allows the best passage for vessels
   • "the ship went aground in the channel"
5. (often plural) a means of communication or access
   • "it must go through official channels"; "lines of communication were set up between the two firms"
   • synonyms: communication channel, line
6. 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"
   • synonyms: canal, duct, epithelial duct
7. a television station and its programs
   • "a satellite TV channel"; "surfing through the channels"; "they offer more than one hundred channels"
   • synonyms: television channel, TV channel
8. a way of selling a company's product either directly or via distributors
   • "possible distribution channels are wholesalers or small retailers or retail chains or direct mailers or your own stores"
   • synonyms: distribution channel

CHANNEL verb

Definition of channel (verb)

1. transmit or serve as the medium for transmission
   • "Sound carries well over water"; "The airwaves carry the sound"; "Many metals conduct heat"
   • synonyms: carry, conduct, convey, impart, transmit
2. direct the flow of
   • "channel information towards a broad audience"
   • synonyms: canalise, canalize
3. send from one person or place to another
   • "transmit a message"
   • synonyms: channelise, channelize, transfer, transmit, transport