Channel

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
channel/ˈtʃanl/

▶noun

• 1 a length of water wider than a strait, joining two larger areas of water, especially two seas.

  ■ (the Channel) the English Channel.

  ■ a navigable passage in a stretch of water otherwise unsafe for vessels.

• 2 a band of frequencies used in radio and television transmission, especially as used by a particular station.

• 3 a medium for communication or the passage of information.

• 4 an electric circuit which acts as a path for a signal.

• 5 Biology a tubular passage or duct for liquid.

▶verb (channels, channelling, channelled; US channels, channeling, channeled)

• 1 direct towards a particular end.

  ■ cause to pass along or through a specified route or medium: many countries channel their aid through charities.

• 2 (usu. as adj. channelled) form channels or grooves in.

• 3 (in spiritualism) serve as a medium for (a spirit).

  ■ emulate or seem to be inspired by: Meg Ryan plays Avery as if she's channelling Nicole Kidman.

– derivatives
channeller noun.

– origin ME: from OFr. chanel, from L. canalis ‘pipe, groove, channel’, from canna (see cane); cf. canal.