Meanings
present singular third person canalises · participle present canalising · participle past canalised · past canalised · alternative canalize
- transitiveTo convert (a river or other waterway) into a canal.
. . . owing to the recent commencement of works about to be carried on on a large scale to improve and canalise the navigation of the Ebro . . .
1854, David Thomas Ansted, Scenery, Science and Art: being extracts from the note-book of a geologist and mining engineer1 more example
Under Advance Brazil, the government plans to pave over 7000 kilometres of new Amazonian highways, canalise vast rivers and construct dozens of railways, […]
2005, New Science Publications, New scientist, volume 188 - transitiveTo build a canal through.
- transitiveTo channel the flow of.
On the desk lay the final version of the Birth Control speech, mastered and canalized by the skilful Maisie.
1927, Edith Wharton, Twilight Sleep, London: Virago, published 1996, page 2212 more examples
The workers' militias, based on the trade unions and each composed of people of approximately the same political opinions, had the effect of canalizing into one place all the most revolutionary sentiment in the country.
1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter VIII, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC...yet it is always a wise precaution in defending a frontier of hundreds of miles to bar off as much as possible by fortifications, and thus economise the use of troops in sedentary roles and "canalise" potential invasion.
1948, Sir Winston Churchill, The Second World War: The Gathering Storm, page 373
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Danish kanalisere, kanalisere
- kanalisereto convert into a canal
- kanalisereto channel the flow of
German kanalisieren, kanalisieren
- kanalisierento convert into a canal
- kanalisierento channel the flow of
Hungarian csatornáz, folyat
- csatornázto build a canal through
- folyatto channel the flow of
- irányítto channel the flow of
- terelto channel the flow of
- vezetto channel the flow of
- összpontosítto channel the flow of
Indonesian menganalkan, membuat kanal
- menganalkanto convert into a canal
- membuat kanalto build a canal through
- menyalurkanto channel the flow of
Irish treoraigh
- treoraighto channel the flow of
Norwegian Bokmål kanalisere, kanalisere
- kanalisereto convert into a canal
- kanalisereto channel the flow of
Polish kanalizować, skanalizować
- kanalizowaćto convert into a canal
- skanalizowaćto convert into a canal
- kanalizowaćto build a canal through
- skanalizowaćto build a canal through
- ukierunkowywaćto channel the flow of
- ukierunkowaćto channel the flow of
Romanian canaliza
- canalizato convert into a canal
Swedish kanalisera, kanalisera
- kanaliserato convert into a canal
- kanaliserato channel the flow of
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with canalise
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
canalise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canalise
“canalise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canalise. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “canalise,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/canalise.
Source: canalise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.