canalize
verb /ˈkænəlaɪz/
/ˈkænəlaɪz/
(British English also canalise)
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they canalize | /ˈkænəlaɪz/ /ˈkænəlaɪz/ |
he / she / it canalizes | /ˈkænəlaɪzɪz/ /ˈkænəlaɪzɪz/ |
past simple canalized | /ˈkænəlaɪzd/ /ˈkænəlaɪzd/ |
past participle canalized | /ˈkænəlaɪzd/ /ˈkænəlaɪzd/ |
-ing form canalizing | /ˈkænəlaɪzɪŋ/ /ˈkænəlaɪzɪŋ/ |
- canalize something (specialist) to make a river wider, deeper or straighter; to make a river into a canal
- canalize something (formal) to control an emotion, activity, etc. so that it is aimed at a particular purpose synonym channel
Word Originmid 19th cent.: from French canaliser, from canal ‘channel’, alteration of chanel ‘channel’, from Latin canalis ‘pipe, groove, channel’, from canna ‘cane’.