subway
Americannoun
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subways
plural
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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 my weekly teaching visits to New York from Maryland, I choose—for now—to continue taking the subway, going to synagogue, eating at kosher restaurants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
The neighborhood is close to downtown and Johns Hopkins Hospital, where Miller works, and to subway, light-rail and train stations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
On a recent night in Kyiv when there were mixed signals about a Russian strike, Kateryna Reshetnyk had gone down to the subway.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
He believes a mayor is the person who could introduce an integrated transport system across Glasgow – potentially taking in buses, trains and the subway.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
“The other one I did see in real life, in the subway station,” I continue.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
Fans by the hundreds take over streets and subways and sports bars, expressing generally well-behaved passion for their teams and countries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
With newly safe streets and subways, New York roared back to life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 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
The Taylors began performing impromptu shows in New York City subways and became international sensations in 2018 when a video of them playing “Eight Days a Week” went viral.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2025
I told Morales about the death, the night before, of Princess Diana and about the new MetroCards that were taking the place of tokens on the New York City subways.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
