a passageway, as for trains or automobiles, through or under an obstruction, as a city, mountain, river, harbor, or the like.
an approximately horizontal gallery or corridor in a mine.
the burrow of an animal.
Dialect. a funnel.
verb (used with object),tun·neled,tun·nel·ing or (especially British) tun·nelled,tun·nel·ling.
to construct a passageway through or under: to tunnel a mountain.
to make or excavate (a tunnel or underground passage): to tunnel a passage under a river.
to move or proceed by or as if by boring a tunnel: The river tunneled its way through the mountain.
to pierce or hollow out, as with tunnels.
verb (used without object),tun·neled,tun·nel·ing or (especially British) tun·nelled,tun·nel·ling.
to make a tunnel or tunnels: to tunnel through the Alps.
Origin of tunnel
1400–50; late Middle English tonel (noun) <Middle French tonele, tonnelle funnel-shaped net, feminine of tonnel cask, diminutive of tonnetun; see -elle
After a moth was given four minutes to taste the sweet stuff, it was attracted to the new smell when sent into the tunnel 15 minutes later, even when neither the sugar water nor the visual cue of the artificial flower was present.
This moth may outsmart smog by learning to like pollution-altered aromas|Carmen Drahl|September 11, 2020|Science News
At least 60% of the world’s supply comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, mostly from small-scale miners using handheld tools to dig ore from pits and tunnels.
Can Tesla help solve one of the thorniest ethical problems with electric vehicles?|Tim McDonnell|September 10, 2020|Quartz
His new model—incorporating tree forts, climbing poles, tunnels, sand areas, and water—became a prototype for playgrounds around the country.
Designing the essential and the unseen|Tate Ryan-Mosley|September 8, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Like building underground car tunnels and sending private rockets to Mars, this Musk-backed endeavor is incredibly ambitious, but it builds on years of research into brain-machine interfaces.
Elon Musk is one step closer to connecting a computer to your brain|Rebecca Heilweil|August 28, 2020|Vox
These tunnels, or wormholes, would offer a shortcut between two distant sites in space and time or between two different universes.
Could ripples in spacetime point to wormholes?|Emily Conover|August 24, 2020|Science News For Students
The only catch—he never mined a thing and the tunnel led to a scenic ledge.
The Mole Man’s Tunnel to Nowhere|Nina Strochlic|November 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Over the next 36 years, he would dig a 2,087-foot tunnel that led absolutely nowhere.
The Mole Man’s Tunnel to Nowhere|Nina Strochlic|November 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After the tunnel was complete, Schmidt went about building a rail line through it.
The Mole Man’s Tunnel to Nowhere|Nina Strochlic|November 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For years, William Schmidt single-handedly dug a tunnel through a mountain to transport his gold-rush loot.
The Mole Man’s Tunnel to Nowhere|Nina Strochlic|November 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When the project was completed, Schmidt moved from the tunnel into town.
The Mole Man’s Tunnel to Nowhere|Nina Strochlic|November 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In a few moments the submarine had climbed back to the level of the tunnel.
Astounding Stories, February, 1931|Various
The statement may be true; but instead of a cave there is only a tunnel a few rods in length.
Archeological Investigations|Gerard Fowke
But it was absolutely necessary, for there was no other plan by which I could tunnel through the tops of the boxes.
The Boy Tar|Mayne Reid
It gets its power from the ocean, a tunnel having been dug out under the water and thence upwards so as to cause great pressure.
Journeys and Experiences in Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile|Henry Stephens
The Germans had counter-sapped, broken into his tunnel, and exploded a mine there.
Over the Front in an Aeroplane and Scenes Inside the French and Flemish Trenches|Ralph Pulitzer
British Dictionary definitions for tunnel
tunnel
/ (ˈtʌnəl) /
noun
an underground passageway, esp one for trains or cars that passes under a mountain, river, or a congested urban area