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Definition: English Channel |
English ChannelNoun1. An arm of the Atlantic Ocean that forms a channel between France and Britain. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The English Channel is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. In French it is called La Manche ("the sleeve"). It is about 350 miles long and at its widest is 240 km (150 miles). The narrowest point is only 34 km (21 miles), from Dover to Cape Gris-Nez.
The Channel has been extremely significant for the defence of Britain, a fact that is referred to in William Shakespeare's play Richard II:
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As the ice sheet melted, a large fresh-water lake formed in the southern part of what is now the North Sea. The outlow channel from the lake entered the Atlantic Ocean in the region of Dover and Calais.
At some point, catastrophic erosion swept away the chalk to create the English Channel, which has since been further widened by wave action on the soft, chalk cliffs. The same mechanism continues to widen the English Channel today.
Nowadays, many travelers cross the English Channel from below, by way of the Channel tunnel or "Chunnel". This grand engineering feat, first proposed in the time of Napoleon, connects England and France via rail.
It is now routine to travel between Paris and London on the Eurostar train.Formation of the Channel
Before the end of the last ice age, around 10 000 years ago, England was part of the continent of Europe.The Channel Tunnel
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "English Channel."
Crosswords: English Channel |
| English words defined with "English Channel": Artois ♦ Battle of the Spanish Armada, Bleriot, Breiz, Bretagne, Brittany ♦ Channel Tunnel, Chops, chunnel ♦ East Sussex, Ederle ♦ Gertrude Caroline Ederle, Gertrude Ederle ♦ Hampshire ♦ Isle of Wight ♦ Le Havre, Louis Bleriot ♦ Normandie, Normandy ♦ Pas-de-Calais, Picardie, Picardy, Pompey, Portsmouth ♦ Seine, Seine River, Solent, Strait of Calais, Strait of Dover, Sussex ♦ the Solent ♦ West Sussex, wight. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "English Channel": BLERIOT ♦ ROJESVENSKY. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | English Channel Swim (1925) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | The death of Pilatre de Rozier during an attempt to cross the English Channel. June 15, 1785. Rozier was the first aeronaut to lose his life as the result of an accident. In: "Histoire des Ballons et des Aeronautes Celebres," by Gaston Tissandier, 1887, p. 95. Library Call Number TL616 .T57 1887. Credit: Treasures of the Library. |  | Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken prior to her World War I Naval service. This steamer was acquired by the Navy in January 1918 and commissioned on the 28th of that month as USS Manhattan (ID # 2195). She was renamed Nopatin on 11 April 1918. Following service during and after World War I as a special services troop transport in the English Channel, she was stricken on 15 August 1919 and sold in July 1920. Credit: NAVY. |
 | Photographed prior to her World War I Naval service. Acquired on 11 January 1918, this steamship served during and after World War I in the English Channel as the special services troop transport USS Nopatin (ID # 2195). This view shows her after end. See Photo # NH 100563 for a view of her forward end. Credit: NAVY. |  | Line engraving published in "The Soldier in Our Civil War", volume I, page 215, depicting the Nashville capturing and burning the U.S. merchantman Harvey Birch in the English Channel, 19 November 1861. Credit: NAVY. |
 | "Prix Ruinart", 2nd crossing of the English-Channel, Jacques de] Lesseps crosses the English Channel, May 21, 1910] / photo, France-Reportage. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Lillian Cannon, of Baltimore, Md., offering her best wishes to Gertrude Ederle, as she starts out from Cape Griz Nez, France, on her successful attempt to swim the English Channel. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Barney Google. In spite of the many setbacks in their brave effort to conquer the English Channel ... Credit: Library of Congress. |  | World Transportation Commission on deck of ship crossing the English Channel. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
Expression using "English Channel": the english channel. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
english channel tunnel | 24 |
english channel crossing | 13 |
swim english channel | 6 |
english channel tunnel chunnel | 6 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "English Channel"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | kanali i la manshit. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | ламанш (the english channel). (various references) | |
Czech | anglický program. (various references) | |
Dutch | Het Kanaal (Channel). (various references) | |
Esperanto | Maniko (the Channel, the English Channel). (various references) | |
French | la Manche. (various references) | |
Greek | μάγχη, θάλασσα τησ μάγχησ. (various references) | |
Hungarian | la manche csatorna. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | イギリス海峡 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | イギリスかいきょう. (various references) | |
Manx | Mooir yn Eeaght. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | englishay annelchay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | canal da mancha. (various references) | |
Romanian | canalul mânecii (straits of dover, the english channel). (various references) | |
Russian | "а‐Манш (Channel), ла-манш, британский канал. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | lamanš. (various references) | |
Spanish | canal de la mancha. (various references) | |
Turkish | manş denizi (ditch, the channel, the english channel). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-e-e-g-h-h-i-l-l-n-n-n-s" | |
-3 letters: channelling. | |
-4 letters: challenges, channeling, hanselling. | |
-5 letters: challenge, chenilles, cleansing, encashing, enchasing, enhancing, hanseling, shigellae. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Expressions 8. Expressions: Internet | 9. Translations: Modern 10. Anagrams 11. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
