Waterway is able to take nearly everything (5)
I believe the answer is:
canal
'waterway' is the definition.
(I know that canal is a type of waterway)
'able to take nearly everything' is the wordplay.
'able' becomes 'can'.
'to take' says to put letters next to each other.
'nearly' means to remove the last letter.
'everything' becomes 'all' (all things).
'all' with its last letter taken off is 'al'.
'can'+'al'='CANAL'
'is' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for canal that I've seen before include "Passage" , "Man-made channel of water" , "Man-made waterway" , "Aqueduct" , "Long, narrow strip of water" .)