tunnel
noun /ˈtʌnl/
/ˈtʌnl/
Idioms - 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
- …
- 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
light 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.