tunnel
an underground passage.
a passageway, as for trains or automobiles, through or under an obstruction, as a city, mountain, river, harbor, or the like.
an approximately horizontal gallery or corridor in a mine.
the burrow of an animal.
Dialect. a funnel.
to construct a passageway through or under: to tunnel a mountain.
to make or excavate (a tunnel or underground passage): to tunnel a passage under a river.
to move or proceed by or as if by boring a tunnel: The river tunneled its way through the mountain.
to pierce or hollow out, as with tunnels.
to make a tunnel or tunnels: to tunnel through the Alps.
Origin of tunnel
1Other words from tunnel
- tun·nel·er; especially British, tun·nel·ler, noun
- tun·nel·like, adjective
- sub·tun·nel, noun
- un·tun·neled, adjective
- un·tun·nelled, adjective
Words Nearby tunnel
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use tunnel in a sentence
Another crowd moved west in an apparent bid to block the Holland tunnel.
Eric Garner Protests: ‘It’s Like Vietnam’ | Abby Haglage, Caitlin Dickson, Jacob Siegel, Chris Allbritton | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe only catch—he never mined a thing and the tunnel led to a scenic ledge.
When the project was completed, Schmidt moved from the tunnel into town.
Over the next 36 years, he would dig a 2,087-foot tunnel that led absolutely nowhere.
After the tunnel was complete, Schmidt went about building a rail line through it.
The grass had a delightful fragrance, like new-mown hay, and was neatly wound around the tunnel, like the inside of a bird's-nest.
Davy and The Goblin | Charles E. CarrylThe south tunnel in New Street was blocked April 18, 1877, by a locomotive turning over.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham | Thomas T. Harman and Walter ShowellTo my friends ever since I have not failed to recommend the passage of the Butterley tunnel as a desirable pleasure excursion.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowOn the Great Western line the longest is the Box tunnel, 3,123 yards in length.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham | Thomas T. Harman and Walter ShowellInstantly there rose before him the vision of a black torrent roaring through the tunnel.
Uncanny Tales | Various
British Dictionary definitions for tunnel
/ (ˈtʌnəl) /
an underground passageway, esp one for trains or cars that passes under a mountain, river, or a congested urban area
any passage or channel through or under something
a dialect word for funnel
obsolete the flue of a chimney
(tr) to make or force (a way) through or under (something): to tunnel a hole in the wall; to tunnel the cliff
(intr; foll by through, under, etc) to make or force a way (through or under something): he tunnelled through the bracken
Origin of tunnel
1Derived forms of tunnel
- tunneller or US tunneler, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with tunnel
see light at the end of the tunnel.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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