runnel

noun

1. 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.”

   “[…] great chambers in the rock where all sorts of plants were growing, under windows which had been cut to let in the sun, and glazed to adjust his warmth, and where runnels of water ran between fruit trees and seedlings, pumpkin plants and herbs.”

2. 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

1. 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.”