水路|すいろsuiro[1]atamadaka (head-high)

1. nounwaterway; canal; channel; watercourse; aqueduct
   船ふねは水路すいろを下くだった。↗

   The ship sailed down the channel.
2. nounswimming pool lane

• Synonym水道すいどうNeutralCovers tap water and the water supply, plus straits such as 「紀伊水道」; 「水路」 stresses channels that carry water or routes for water transport.
• Related経路けいろNeutralA general word for the route or course something takes; it can also mean a channel, but it is not specific to waterways like 「水路」.
• Related道筋みちすじNeutralA general word for a path or route, also the line an argument follows; it has no water sense, so it cannot replace 「水路」 in that use.
• Related水脈すいみゃくWrittenThe same word as the 「澪」 above: also written 「水脈」 or 「水尾」, with the same reading and meaning; seen mostly in waka poems and place names.
• Related進路しんろNeutralThe direction or course of moving ahead, often one's future path after school; it can describe a ship's heading, but unlike 「水路」 it is not specific to waterways.
• Related澪みおWrittenA literary word of written prose for the channel ships follow at sea or in a river; it also covers a ship's wake. More archaic and elegant than 「水路」.
• Antonym陸路りくろNeutralThe antonym: an overland route, also used adverbially; it contrasts with 「水路」 as travel by land versus travel by water.

Use 「水路」 for channels that carry water and routes over water — irrigation ditches, canals, as in 「水路で運ぶ」. Tap water and straits take 「水道」; for routes in general use 「経路」. The opposite, for travel by land, is 「陸路」.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 水みずを流ながす通路つうろ。用水路ようすいろ、悪あく水路すいろなど。
2. 競泳きょうえいにおける区切くぎられたコース。
3. 交通こうつうの経路けいろで船舶せんぱくを利用りようするもの。副詞ふくし的てきにも用もちいる。