tunnel

[ tuhn-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.

verb (used with object)

, tun·neled, tun·nel·ing or (especially British) tun·nelled, tun·nel·ling.

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)

, tun·neled, tun·nel·ing or (especially British) tun·nelled, tun·nel·ling.

1. to make a tunnel or tunnels:

   to tunnel through the Alps.

tunnel

/ 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. See funnel
   a dialect word for funnel
4. obsolete.
   the flue of a chimney

verb

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

   to tunnel the cliff

   to tunnel a hole in the wall

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

   he tunnelled through the bracken

Derived Forms

• ˈtunneller, noun

Other Words From

• tunnel·er especially British, tunnel·ler noun
• tunnel·like adjective
• sub·tunnel noun
• un·tunneled adjective
• un·tunnelled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tunnel¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of tunnel¹

C15: from Old French tonel cask, from tonne tun, from Medieval Latin tonna barrel, of Celtic origin

Idioms and Phrases

see light at the end of the tunnel .

Example Sentences

After a moth was given four minutes to taste the sweet stuff, it was attracted to the new smell when sent into the tunnel 15 minutes later, even when neither the sugar water nor the visual cue of the artificial flower was present.

From Science News

At least 60% of the world’s supply comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, mostly from small-scale miners using handheld tools to dig ore from pits and tunnels.

From Quartz

His new model—incorporating tree forts, climbing poles, tunnels, sand areas, and water—became a prototype for playgrounds around the country.

From MIT Technology Review

Like building underground car tunnels and sending private rockets to Mars, this Musk-backed endeavor is incredibly ambitious, but it builds on years of research into brain-machine interfaces.

From Vox

These tunnels, or wormholes, would offer a shortcut between two distant sites in space and time or between two different universes.

From Science News For Students

Another crowd moved west in an apparent bid to block the Holland Tunnel.

From The Daily Beast

The only catch—he never mined a thing and the tunnel led to a scenic ledge.

From The Daily Beast

When the project was completed, Schmidt moved from the tunnel into town.

From The Daily Beast

Over the next 36 years, he would dig a 2,087-foot tunnel that led absolutely nowhere.

From The Daily Beast

After the tunnel was complete, Schmidt went about building a rail line through it.

From The Daily Beast

The grass had a delightful fragrance, like new-mown hay, and was neatly wound around the tunnel, like the inside of a bird's-nest.

From Project Gutenberg

The south tunnel in New Street was blocked April 18, 1877, by a locomotive turning over.

From Project Gutenberg

To my friends ever since I have not failed to recommend the passage of the Butterley tunnel as a desirable pleasure excursion.

From Project Gutenberg

On the Great Western line the longest is the Box tunnel, 3,123 yards in length.

From Project Gutenberg

Instantly there rose before him the vision of a black torrent roaring through the tunnel.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• burrow