1
a
: a covered passageway
specifically
: a horizontal passageway through or under an obstruction
b
: a subterranean gallery (as in a mine)
c
: burrow
tunneled or tunnelled; tunneling or tunnelling
ˈtən-liŋ,
ˈtə-nᵊl-iŋ
1
: to make or use a tunnel
2
physics
: to pass through a potential barrier
electrons tunneling through an insulator between semiconductors
: to make a tunnel or similar opening through or under
also
: to make (one's way) by or as if by making a tunnel
Examples of tunnel in a Sentence
Noun
The train goes through a tunnel in the mountain.
The moles dug tunnels in the yard.
Verb
Workers are tunneling through the hill.
Insects had tunneled into the tree.
Recent Examples on the Web
Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 14 Mar. 2025
Failing to do so puts in jeopardy the rehabilitation and maintenance of the MTA’s more than 700 stations, 6,700 subway cars, 5,800 buses, 2,400 commuter rail cars, seven bridges, and two tunnels that carry more than six million riders and some 900,000 cars each day.
—Robert G. Wessels, New York Daily News, 14 Mar. 2025
Ars Technica, 11 Mar. 2025
Trump and Musk have tunneled into the entire federal government, even including the passport office.
—Robert B. Reich, Hartford Courant, 11 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tunnel
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Noun
Drop each cake pan once onto the counter from a height of three inches, to remove any large air pockets, which could cause holes or tunnels in the baked cake layers.
—Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 14 Mar. 2025
Failing to do so puts in jeopardy the rehabilitation and maintenance of the MTA’s more than 700 stations, 6,700 subway cars, 5,800 buses, 2,400 commuter rail cars, seven bridges, and two tunnels that carry more than six million riders and some 900,000 cars each day.
—Robert G. Wessels, New York Daily News, 14 Mar. 2025
Verb
From the rat's gastrointestinal tract, the larvae tunnel their way to the animal's brain, where the larvae incubate and go through L4 and L5 stages to become young-adult worms.
—Ars Technica, 11 Mar. 2025
Trump and Musk have tunneled into the entire federal government, even including the passport office.
—Robert B. Reich, Hartford Courant, 11 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tunnel
Cite this Entry
“Tunnel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tunnel. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tunnel
2 of 2 verb
tunneled or tunnelled; tunneling or tunnelling
ˈtən-liŋ,
-ᵊl-iŋ
: to make a tunnel
Medical Definition
tunnel
noun
tun·nel
ˈtən-ᵊl
: a bodily channel see carpal tunnel
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