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.
To help ease blockages at the airport, an "automated people mover" train connecting it to the city's sparse subway system was scheduled to go into service in 2023.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
Is the man preaching salvation on the subway a predator?
From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026
The roads climb and twist around steep hillsides, while the subway trundles underneath and then through layers of buildings.
From BBC • May 12, 2026
In a moment of rare public transit fanfare, Los Angeles on Friday celebrated the long-awaited opening of a major subway expansion along Wilshire Boulevard that connects Beverly Hills to downtown.
From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026
I'd been pushed and shoved through dark subway tunnels with the monsters howling and snapping at my heels the whole way.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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.
