What does "tunnel" mean?
An underground or underwater passage.
Tunnel
/ˈtʌn(ə)l/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An underground or underwater passage.
- Grammar: tunnel is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: abri, access, adit, aisle.
- Useful contrasts: block, crosswalk, decrypt.
- Usage evidence: The sightseeing bus ran through a long tunnel.
How to use "tunnel"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "tunnel" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "tunnel" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "tunnel" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "tunnel" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "tunnel" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abri" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "tunnel", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An underground or underwater passage.
"In 1865 an outfit called the East London Railway Company bought the Brunel tunnel for £800,000, and in 1869 they opened a railway through it."
- 2 a passageway through or under something, usually underground (especially one for trains or cars) wordnet
- 3 A passage through or under some obstacle.
"But very soon he grew to like it, for the Boy used to talk to him, and made nice tunnels for him under the bedclothes that he said were like the burrows the real rabbits lived in."
- 4 a hole made by an animal, usually for shelter wordnet
- 5 A hole in the ground made by an animal, a burrow.
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 A wrapper for a protocol that cannot otherwise be used because it is unsupported, blocked, or insecure.
- 7 A vessel with a broad mouth at one end, a pipe or tube at the other, for conveying liquor, fluids, etc., into casks, bottles, or other vessels; a funnel.
- 8 The opening of a chimney for the passage of smoke; a flue.
"And one great chimney, whose long tonnell thence, / The smoke forth threw"
- 9 A level passage driven across the measures, or at right angles to veins which it is desired to reach; distinguished from the drift, or gangway, which is led along the vein when reached by the tunnel.
- 10 Anything that resembles a tunnel. figuratively
"Especially in the Eden Valley, trees create what is almost a green tunnel (particularly in summer)."
Verb
- 1 To make a tunnel through or under something; to burrow. transitive
"The 1955 Act gave powers for compulsory acquisition of "easements", or permission to tunnel beneath dwelling houses instead of, as had previously been necessary, following approximately the course of surface roads."
- 2 force a way through wordnet
- 3 To dig a tunnel. intransitive
- 4 move through by or as by digging wordnet
- 5 To transmit something through a tunnel (wrapper for an insecure or unsupported protocol).
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To insert a catheter into a vein to allow long-term use. transitive
- 7 To undergo the quantum-mechanical phenomenon where a particle penetrates through a barrier that it classically cannot surmount.
Proper Noun
- 1 A locality in the City of Launceston, northern Tasmania, Australia.
Example
"The sightseeing bus ran through a long tunnel."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "tunnel"?
Common synonyms include: abri, access, adit, aisle, alley, ambulatory.
How do you use "tunnel" in a sentence?
The sightseeing bus ran through a long tunnel.
How do you pronounce "tunnel"?
Pronounced /ˈtʌn(ə)l/.
Etymology
From Middle French tonnelle (“net”) or tonel (“cask”), diminutive of Old French tonne (“cask”), a word of uncertain origin and affiliation. Related to Old English tunne (“tun; cask; barrel”). More at tun.