51Թ

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View synonyms for

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)

tunneled, tunneling or (especially British) 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 or (especially British) tunnelled, tunnelling.
  1. to make a tunnel or tunnels:

    to tunnel through the Alps.

tunnel

/ ˈʌə /

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
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈٳܲԲԱ, noun
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Other 51Թ Forms

  • ٳܲn· especially British, ٳܲn· noun
  • ٳܲn· adjective
  • ܲ·ٳܲn noun
  • ܲ·ٳܲn adjective
  • ܲ·ٳܲn adjective
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51Թ 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
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of tunnel1

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

see light at the end of the tunnel .
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The cliff walk, made up of a series of bridges, paths and tunnels, had fallen into disrepair by the 1950s but a £7.5m investment saw it open again in 2015.

From

As he turns 48, somewhere in the tunnels of Gaza, Lishay will be writing again, with tales of two daughters who were still babies when he last saw them.

From

TV entertainment formats enable President Trump to continue to set the agenda and direct the focus rather than shifting format and allocating time to escape the media tunnel focus on Trump.

From

But thankfully, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel: tax refunds.

From

This is an attraction, from the queue to its ending, of constant reveals — tunnels give way to gorgeous atriums, and each set piece aims to be larger, more lively than the last.

From

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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.

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