Noun | 1. | channel - a path over which electrical signals can pass; "a channel is typically what you rent from a telephone company" Synonyms: transmission channel |
2. | channel - 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. | channel - 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. | channel - 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. | channel - (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. | channel - 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" | |
7. | channel - 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. | channel - 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 | |
Verb | 1. | channel - transmit or serve as the medium for transmission; "Sound carries well over water"; "The airwaves carry the sound"; "Many metals conduct heat" |
2. | channel - direct the flow of; "channel infomartion towards a broad audience" | |
3. | channel - send from one person or place to another; "transmit a message" |
(chat) | channel - (Or "chat room", "room", depending on the system in
question) The basic unit of group discussion in chat systems
like IRC. Once one joins a channel, everything one types is
read by others on that channel. Channels can either be named
with numbers or with strings that begin with a "#" sign and
can have topic descriptions (which are generally irrelevant to
the actual subject of discussion). Some notable channels are "#initgame", "#hottub" and "#report". At times of international crisis, "#report" has hundreds of members, some of whom take turns listening to various news services and typing in summaries of the news, or in some cases, giving first-hand accounts of the action (e.g. Scud missile attacks in Tel Aviv during the Gulf War in 1991). |