subway

noun

sub·​way ˈsəb-ˌwā 

: an underground way: such as

a

: a passage under a street (as for pedestrians, power cables, or water or gas mains)

b

: a usually electric underground railway

c

: underpass

subway intransitive verb

Examples of subway in a Sentence

I took the subway to midtown.

No one on the subway seemed to mind how crowded it was.

I've been on both the New York subway and the Underground in London.

Recent Examples on the Web

My mom grabbed her purse and got on a subway to Forty-second Street. —Zayd Ayers Dohrn, New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2026

During the fight, a knife clattered onto the subway car’s floor, cops said. —Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 27 Mar. 2026

As the sun falls, Johnny Leach steps out of his Brooklyn apartment and onto the wet street before ducking into the subway station. —Jenna Thompson march 27, Kansas City Star, 27 Mar. 2026

Step into the pre-Revolutionary War era Providence almost had a subway system 100 years ago. —Lynne Sullivan, The Providence Journal, 27 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1822, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing subway

• subway train

Rhymes for subway

• airway
• allay
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway
• beret

Kids Definition

subway

noun

sub·​way ˈsəb-ˌwā 

1

: an underground passage

2

: a usually electric underground railway