alimentary canal
- noun
- /ˌælɪˈmɛnˌtɛri kəˈnæl/
- Specialized
:
canal alimentario
- The food travels through the alimentary canal as part of the digestion process.
Examples
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The alimentary canal includes the mouth, esophagus, stomach, and intestines.
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Doctors study the alimentary canal to understand how food is processed in the body.
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Travel through the orange alimentary canal for a look.
Blog text (4) -
We start in the alimentary canal... and open the digestive tract.
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But we are merely lifeguards at watch on the shores of the alimentary canal.
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Do the silkies form pearls in order to protect the delicate alimentary canal?
Fiction book (1996) -
I imagine the thick, sweet liquid filling up the tubes of the alimentary canal in the poster in the biology lab at school.
Fiction book (1997) -
Hikers were urinating into the holding tanks that stored our drinking water, and everyone was experiencing severe hallucinations, dysentery, and alimentary canal problems.
Academic text (2001)
Synonyms
11
3.4
A long tube made of muscle from the mouth to the anus that breaks down food and removes waste
3
3.9
A tube in the body from the mouth to the anus where food is digested and waste leaves the body
2
4.2
The tube in the body from the mouth to the anus that breaks down food and removes waste
A tube in the body from the mouth to the anus that carries food and breaks it down
A tube from the mouth to the anus where food is digested and waste leaves the body
A tube in embryos and simple animals that digests food
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from 'alimentary' (relating to nutrition/digestion) combined with 'canal' (a passage or tube), yielding the idea of the digestive passage or tract. Although somewhat technical in register, the adjective+noun composition is compositional and cross-linguistically paralleled, so a learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Alimentary canal literally means a 'food channel'. The word alimentary points to 'food' and canal to a 'tube', so the phrase describes the long tube that food moves through from the mouth to the anus during digestion.