runnel
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L326998 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɹʌnəl/ / /ˈɹʌn.l/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English runel, rennel, rinel, from Old English rynel (“that which runs; runner; stream”), from Proto-Germanic *runilaz, equivalent to run + -el. Cognate with Scots rinel, rinnal (“stream; runnel”), Swedish rännel (“runner; runnel”).
- A small stream, a rivulet.
“Spring, is ye comen in, / Dappled larke singe, / Snow melteth, / Runnel pelteth, / Smelleth wind of newe buddinge.”
“Every little runnel in the bay was astir, and yet the land around him was as dry as flax, and no drop of rain had fallen.”
- A small artificial channel for water to flow in.
“Still lower down the slope, on a staircase by the Eastern Bastion, there is an elaborate piece of hydraulic science for checking the flow of water. A stone runnel is made to descend the stairs in a series of parabolic curves which would subject the water to friction, and thus reduce its velocity and the consequent danger of a flood on the pavement below.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English runel, rennel, rinel, from Old English rynel (“that which runs; runner; stream”), from Proto-Germanic *runilaz, equivalent to run + -el. Cognate with Scots rinel, rinnal (“stream; runnel”), Swedish rännel (“runner; runnel”).
- To create channels for directing the flow of liquid.
“Not all saltmarshes are suited to habitat modification, but where they are, runnelling provides long-term and cost-effective control with minor non-target impacts.”
“2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)https://web.archive.org/web/20150212214621/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/pilgrim-roads/salopek-text The people who settled here weren’t farmers. They hunted. Yet they built a large amphitheater of mud, a platform carefully runneled to carry liquid—possibly blood.”