runnels

Noun

runnel (plural runnels)

1. A small stream, a rivulet.
   • Spring, is ye comen in, / Dappled larke singe, / Snow melteth, / Runnel pelteth, / Smelleth wind of newe buddinge.1892 March, “Mother Talks—A Spring Walk”, in Cora L. Stockham, Andrea Hofer, editors, The Kindergarten Magazine […], volume IV, number VII, Chicago, Ill.: Kindergarten Publishing Company, →OCLC, page...
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...1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 9

See all 3 meanings of runnel