Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To furnish with or convert into a canal or canals.
  • transitive verb To provide an outlet for; channel.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To make a canal through; provide with a canal or canals.
  • To convert into a canal: as, to canalize a river.
  • Also spelled canalise.
  • To form a channel or canal.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • verb to provide with a canal, as of a city.
  • verb to to direct the flow of; -- also used abstractly, as of money or information.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Alternative spelling of canalise.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb provide (a city) with a canal
  • verb direct the flow of

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

canal +‎ -ize

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Examples

  • "canalize" the waterways that the canal had originally avoided: The Mohawk, Oswego, Seneca and Clyde rivers and Oneida Lake.

    Journal Online Homepage 2010

  • "canalize" the waterways that the canal had originally avoided: The Mohawk, Oswego, Seneca and Clyde rivers and Oneida Lake.

    Journal Online Homepage 2010

  • He agreed that the first option was out of the question, and accepted the moves to “canalize” the revolutionary upheaval and ask for an end to the fighting.22

    How Wars end Gideon Rose 2010

  • The underwater potential has not been evaluated, but it is believed that geological faults canalize water in a disorganized fashion in limestone subsoils such as this.

    Tikal National Park, Guatemala 2008

  • However, on the basis of plausibility which I recognize to be an imperfect measure, it seems more likely that pornography would canalize and strengthen a sexual deviation, leading to an eventual acting out of fantasy, than that it would provide an outlet for a sexual deviation sufficient to preclude acting out.

    The Deep Throat and Catherine McKinnon 2005

  • So adjustments are usually made down at the tactical level, whether it's the standoff distance or where you put sandbags, how much wire you put out, what you use to canalize or channelize the movement of vehicles that might approach.

    CNN Transcript Apr 22, 2003 2003

  • Also, France, Germany, and Luxembourg agreed to canalize the Moselle River, connecting the Lorraine steel industry with the Ruhr Valley.

    1956, July 25 2001

  • Minefields laid by fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters can also be useful in this phase to delay the enemy force or canalize the enemy attack.

    FM 100-61 Chptr 10 Air Support United States Army 1998

  • Used in the defense, persistent chemical agents can deny the enemy certain terrain and canalize attacking forces.

    FM 100-61 Chptr 14 NBC and Smoke Support United States Army 1998

  • Used in the defense, persistent chemical agents can deny the enemy certain terrain and canalize attacking forces.

    FM 100-61 Chptr 14 NBC and Smoke Support United States Army 1998

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