the Underground Railroad
/ði ˌʌndəɡraʊnd ˈreɪlrəʊd/
/ði ˌʌndərɡraʊnd ˈreɪlrəʊd/
- a secret system used in the US before the Civil War for helping thousands of enslaved people to escape to the free northern states or Canada. The people trying to escape were called 'passengers', the people who helped them were 'conductors', and the safe houses used for hiding in along the way were called 'stations' .
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
the Underground Railroad