subway

American  

[suhb-wey] / ˈsʌbˌweɪ /

noun

subways plural

1. especially British, tube, underground.  an underground electric railroad, usually in a large city.

2. Chiefly British. a short tunnel or underground passageway for pedestrians, automobiles, etc.; underpass.

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verb (used without object)

1. to be transported by a subway.

   We subwayed uptown.

subway British  

/ ˈsʌbˌweɪ /

noun

1. an underground passage or tunnel enabling pedestrians to cross a road, railway, etc

2. an underground passage or tunnel for traffic, electric power supplies, etc

3. an underground railway

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• subways
  plural

Etymology

Origin of subway

First recorded in 1820–30; sub- + way ¹

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

subway subways

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

Antonio Rogers, 71 years old, a transit cleaner, says at least once a month he finds a heavy piece of furniture that someone tried to haul via the subway but gave up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

A subway car is supposed to be one of society’s great equalizers.

From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026

But the subway did not collapse, and the skyscrapers didn’t crumble.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

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

The first downtown stretch opened in March 1976 after more than a decade of planning, in an era when American cities were not exactly betting on subways.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

Philadelphia’s World Cup host organization said Monday that it will offer free public transit to fans who are traveling home from Lincoln Financial Field via the state’s Septa system, which operates buses, subways and trains.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 21, 2026

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

Related Words

• metro
• underground