tunnel

American  

[tuhn-l] / ˈtʌn l /

noun

1. an underground passage.

2. a passageway, as for trains or automobiles, through or under an obstruction, as a city, mountain, river, harbor, or the like.

3. an approximately horizontal gallery or corridor in a mine.

4. the burrow of an animal.

5. Dialect. a funnel.

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verb (used with object)

tunneled, tunneling, tunnelled, tunnelling

1. to construct a passageway through or under.

   to tunnel a mountain.

2. to make or excavate (a tunnel or underground passage).

   to tunnel a passage under a river.

3. to move or proceed by or as if by boring a tunnel.

   The river tunneled its way through the mountain.

4. to pierce or hollow out, as with tunnels.

verb (used without object)

tunneled, tunneling, tunnelled, tunnelling

1. to make a tunnel or tunnels.

   to tunnel through the Alps.

tunnel British  

/ ˈtʌnəl /

noun

1. an underground passageway, esp one for trains or cars that passes under a mountain, river, or a congested urban area

2. any passage or channel through or under something

3. a dialect word for funnel

4. obsolete the flue of a chimney

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verb

1. (tr) to make or force (a way) through or under (something)

   to tunnel a hole in the wall

   to tunnel the cliff

2. (intr; foll by through, under, etc) to make or force a way (through or under something)

   he tunnelled through the bracken

tunnel Idioms  

1. see light at the end of the tunnel.

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Other Word Forms

• subtunnel
  noun
• tunneler
  noun
• tunneller
  noun
• tunnellike
  adjective
• untunneled
  adjective
• untunnelled
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of tunnel

1400–50; late Middle English tonel (noun) < Middle French tonele, tonnelle funnel-shaped net, feminine of tonnel cask, diminutive of tonne tun; see -elle

Explanation

A tunnel is a passage that runs underground or through something, like a train tunnel that cuts through a mountain. Some theme parks have networks of underground tunnels so that employees can move around out of sight of visitors. Some tunnels, like New York's Lincoln Tunnel and the Holland Tunnel, which connect New York City to New Jersey, are large and solid enough to drive cars through. Others are much smaller, like the tunnels small animals dig through snow or soil for safety and shelter. As a verb, tunnel means "dig a tunnel" or "force through," the way your neighborhood groundhog tunnels under your dad's vegetable garden.

Example Sentences

For comparison, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world's longest railway tunnel, stretches 54 kilometers.

From Science Daily • Mar. 3, 2026

The show has also aggressively employed social media to promote its Spirit Tunnel, where staff members lining a corridor greet celebrities with chants on their way to the stage.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2026

Appeared in the February 4, 2026, print edition as 'New York, New Jersey File Suit to Restore Funding for Tunnel'.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

The police said the road is closed in both directions between the Penmaenmawr Tunnel and the Conwy Tunnel, and is expected to be closed for some time.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026

I look down at Lily’s copy of The World at the End of the Tunnel.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish

Related Words

• channel
• hole
• mine
• pit
• shaft
• subway
• underpass