canal vs tube

canal

verb
  • To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage 

  • To travel along a canal by boat 

noun
  • A tubular channel within the body. 

  • An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation. 

  • One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars. 

tube

verb
  • To supply with, or enclose in, a tube. 

  • To intubate. 

  • To ride an inner tube. 

noun
  • Anything that is hollow and cylindrical in shape. 

  • The London Underground railway system, originally referred to the lower level lines that ran in tubular tunnels as opposed to the higher ones which ran in rectangular section tunnels. (Often the tube.) 

  • A television. Compare cathode ray tube and picture tube. 

  • A tin can containing beer. 

  • An approximately cylindrical container, usually with a crimped end and a screw top, used to contain and dispense semiliquid substances. 

  • An idiot. 

  • A wave which pitches forward when breaking, creating a hollow space inside. 

How often have the words canal and tube occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )