An arm of the Atlantic Ocean between western France and southern England. It opens into the North Sea and is traversed by a train-ferry service. A rail tunnel beneath the English Channel, known as the "chunnel," connecting Folkstone, England and Calais, France, was opened in 1994.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.