- a passage built underground, for example to allow a road or railway to go through a hill, under a river, etc.
- a railway/railroad tunnel
- the Channel Tunnel
- the tunnel entrance/walls/ceiling
- They have been digging underground tunnels in the mountains since the 1960s.
- A gust of wind passed through the tunnel.
Extra ExamplesTopics Transport by bus and trainb2, Transport by car or lorryb2- A service tunnel runs between the two buildings.
- The initial section of tunnel had to be dug by hand.
- The train disappeared into a tunnel.
- They've built a new tunnel through the mountain.
- We got lost in the maze of tunnels.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- long
- short
- narrow
- …
- go through
- use
- disappear into
- …
- run
- lead
- connect
- …
- entrance
- floor
- mouth
- …
- through a/the tunnel
- a labyrinth of tunnels
- a maze of tunnels
- a network of tunnels
- …
Definitions on the go
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- an underground passage made by an animal or natural processes
- The badger sett had twelve entrances to what must have been a labyrinth of tunnels.
- The tunnel opened out into a large cavern.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- long
- short
- narrow
- …
- go through
- use
- disappear into
- …
- run
- lead
- connect
- …
- entrance
- floor
- mouth
- …
- through a/the tunnel
- a labyrinth of tunnels
- a maze of tunnels
- a network of tunnels
- …
Word Originlate Middle English (in the senses ‘tunnel-shaped net’ and ‘flue of a chimney’): from Old French tonel, diminutive of tonne ‘cask’. The current noun senses date from the mid 18th cent.
Idioms
See tunnel in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee tunnel in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishlight at the end of the tunnel
- something that shows you are nearly at the end of a long and difficult time or situation
- For the first time since the start of his treatment, we can now see light at the end of the tunnel.
Check pronunciation:
tunnel