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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
In recent months, he ventured underground, sleeping in New York City’s subway tunnels, according to his half-sister, who requested anonymity to speak freely about her younger brother.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Truelove told her he preferred living in a subway tunnel to being on the street, because people didn’t bother him down there.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
The downpour cascaded into subway stations and flooded city streets in parts of New York and the Tri-State area, which also includes Connecticut, while some drivers abandoned their vehicles in rising water.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
The starting hourly wage for New York City subway cleaners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Would descending into the labyrinth of the Union Square subway station be enough?
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Longtime critics of subways used the explosion to stoke community fears that tunneling would lead to exploding homes.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
Back in China, many cities have grown cleaner and more livable in recent years, linked together by efficient subways and high-speed trains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
What sets robotaxis apart is the privacy it offers that can’t be found on crowded subways or even in a traditional taxicab.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 24, 2025
As Rahiem said, “Amiri and I were just projecting our voices over the loud subways coming in and out of the stations,” not knowing at first that they’d become famous.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2025
“But with no subways running here, it might as well be Trinidad, Daddy.”
From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore
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.
