subway
Americannoun
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especially British, tube, underground. an underground electric railroad, usually in a large city.
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Chiefly British. a short tunnel or underground passageway for pedestrians, automobiles, etc.; underpass.
verb (used without object)
noun
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an underground passage or tunnel enabling pedestrians to cross a road, railway, etc
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an underground passage or tunnel for traffic, electric power supplies, etc
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an underground railway
Etymology
Origin of subway
Explanation
An underground transportation system on rails is called a subway. New York City's subway system has more stations than any other subway in the world. In most large cities, the subway is a good way to get where you need to go. Subways have many different local names, from the BART in San Francisco to the Métro in Paris to the U-Bahn in Berlin. Before subway came to mean "underground railway," it meant "underground passage for water pipes." And if you ask where the subway is in London, you'll be directed to an underground walkway, which is what subway means in the U.K.
Vocabulary lists containing subway
October Words
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Unit 5
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Transportation
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“With the last $20,000, as a Hail Mary, we created and launched Subway Takes,” says Kuo, who produces the show.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026
A related photo exhibition, “Wilshire Subway: Photographed by Ken Karagozian,” is on view through May 14 at the 1301PE art gallery on Wilshire Boulevard.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
Some 200 law-enforcement officers descended on homes, police stations and a local Subway shop owned by the businessman.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
She is nicknamed 'Meatball' because she used to work at Subway to pay the bills when she started out as an amateur MMA fighter.
From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026
It had been across the parking lot from a Subway, and ever since, I couldn’t smell baking Subway bread without feeling trapped and claustrophobic from the porcupine costume I was forced to wear.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
