Adjacent Words

Tunnel definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TUN'NEL, n. A vessel with a broad mouth at one end, and a pipe or tube at the other, for conveying liquor into casks.
1. The opening of a chimney for the passage of smoke; called generally a funnel.
2. A large subterraneous arch through a hill for a canal and the passage of boats. Smaller drains or culverts are also called tunnels.
TUN'NEL, v.t. To form like a tunnel; as, to tunnel fibrous plants into nests.
1. To catch in a net called a tunnel-net.
2. To form with net-work.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a passageway through or under something, usually underground (especially one for trains or cars); "the tunnel reduced congestion at that intersection"
2: a hole made by an animal, usually for shelter [syn: burrow, tunnel] v
1: move through by or as by digging; "burrow through the forest" [syn: burrow, tunnel]
2: force a way through

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English tonel cask, tun, from Anglo-French, from tone tun Date: 1508 1. a hollow conduit or recess ; tube, well 2. a. a covered passageway; specifically a horizontal passageway through or under an obstruction b. a subterranean gallery (as in a mine) c. burrow • tunnellike adjective II. verb (-neled or -nelled; -neling or tunnelling) Date: 1795 intransitive verb 1. to make or use a tunnel 2. physics to pass through a potential barrier <electrons tunneling through an insulator between semiconductors> transitive verb to make a tunnel or similar opening through or under; also to make (one's way) by or as if by making a tunnel • tunneler noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 an artificial underground passage through a hill or under a road or river etc., esp. for a railway or road to pass through, or in a mine. 2 an underground passage dug by a burrowing animal. 3 a prolonged period of difficulty or suffering (esp. in metaphors, e.g. the end of the tunnel). 4 a tube containing a propeller shaft etc. --v. (tunnelled, tunnelling; US tunneled, tunneling) 1 intr. (foll. by through, into, etc.) make a tunnel through (a hill etc.). 2 tr. make (one's way) by tunnelling. 3 intr. Physics pass through a potential barrier. Phrases and idioms: tunnel diode Electronics a two-terminal semiconductor diode using tunnelling electrons to perform high-speed switching operations. tunnel-kiln a kiln in which ceramic ware is carried on trucks along a continuously-heated passage. tunnel-net a fishing-net wide at the mouth and narrow at the other end. tunnel vision 1 vision that is defective in not adequately including objects away from the centre of the field of view. 2 colloq. inability to grasp the wider implications of a situation. Derivatives: tunneller n. Etymology: ME f. OF tonel dimin. of tonne TUN

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Adit Ad"it, n. [L. aditus, fr. adire, ?aitum, to go to; ad + ire to go.] 1. An entrance or passage. Specifically: The nearly horizontal opening by which a mine is entered, or by which water and ores are carried away; -- called also drift and tunnel. 2. Admission; approach; access. [R.] Yourself and yours shall have Free adit. --Tennyson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tunnel Tun"nel, n. . [F. tonnelle a semicircular, wagon-headed vault, a tunnel net, an arbor, OF. also tonnel; dim. of tonne a tun; -- so named from its resemblance to a tun in shape. See Ton.] 1. A vessel with a broad mouth at one end, a pipe or tube at the other, for conveying liquor, fluids, etc., into casks, bottles, or other vessels; a funnel. 2. The opening of a chimney for the passage of smoke; a flue; a funnel. And one great chimney, whose long tunnel thence The smoke forth threw. --Spenser. 3. An artificial passage or archway for conducting canals or railroads under elevated ground, for the formation of roads under rivers or canals, and the construction of sewers, drains, and the like. 4. (Mining) A level passage driven across the measures, or at right angles to veins which it is desired to reach; -- distinguished from the drift, or gangway, which is led along the vein when reached by the tunnel. Tunnel head (Metal.), the top of a smelting furnace where the materials are put in. Tunnel kiln, a limekiln in which coal is burned, as distinguished from a flame kiln, in which wood or peat is used. Tunnel net, a net with a wide mouth at one end and narrow at the other. Tunnel pit, Tunnel shaft, a pit or shaft sunk from the top of the ground to the level of a tunnel, for drawing up the earth and stones, for ventilation, lighting, and the like.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tunnel Tun"nel, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tunneledor Tunnelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Tunneling or Tunnelling.] 1. To form into a tunnel, or funnel, or to form like a tunnel; as, to tunnel fibrous plants into nests. --Derham. 2. To catch in a tunnel net. 3. To make an opening, or a passageway, through or under; as, to tunnel a mountain; to tunnel a river.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(tunnels, tunnelling, tunnelled) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. Note: in AM, use 'tunneling', 'tunneled' 1. A tunnel is a long passage which has been made under the ground, usually through a hill or under the sea. ...two new railway tunnels through the Alps. N-COUNT: oft supp N 2. To tunnel somewhere means to make a tunnel there. The rebels tunnelled out of a maximum security jail... VERB: V prep/adv 3. see also wind tunnel

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Funnel. 2. Subterranean passage, underground thoroughfare.

Moby Thesaurus

abri, access, adit, aisle, alley, ambulatory, antre, aperture, approach trench, arcade, artery, avenue, bore, bunker, burrow, cave, cavern, channel, cloister, colonnade, communication, communication trench, conduit, connection, corridor, couch, countermine, countersink, coupure, course, cove, covered way, covert, deepen, defile, delve, den, depress, dig, dig out, dike, ditch, dive, double sap, dredge, drill, drive, duct, dugout, earth, egress, entrance, entrenchment, excavate, exit, ferry, fire trench, flying sap, ford, form, fortified tunnel, fosse, foxhole, furrow, gallery, gouge, gouge out, groove, grot, grotto, grub, hole, ingress, inlet, interchange, intersection, junction, lair, lane, lodge, lower, mew, mine, moat, opening, outlet, overpass, parallel, pass, passage, passageway, penetrate, portico, quarry, railroad tunnel, run, sap, scoop, scoop out, scrabble, scrape, scratch, sewer, shaft, shovel, sink, slit trench, spade, subterrane, subway, traject, trajet, trench, trough, troughing, troughway, underpass, warren, way