Underground Railroad

noun

variants or less commonly Underground Railway

: a system of cooperation among active antislavery people in the U.S. before 1863 by which people escaping enslavement were secretly helped to reach the North or Canada

Examples of Underground Railroad in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This Pulitzer-winning neo-slave narrative reimagines the Underground Railroad as a real subterranean network, in a Sisyphean allegory that illustrates the relentless metamorphoses of white supremacy and Black resistance. — Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 22 July 2026

Other notable adaptations are The Big Short, World War Z, Underground Railroad, Women Talking and Nickel Boys. — Justin Kroll, Deadline, 21 July 2026

Now, here are two guys who know how to build, if not quite an actual Underground Railroad, one hell of a funicular. — Chris Willman, Variety, 18 July 2026

The town of 13,000 people, where about 15% of the population is Black, was a key stop on the Underground Railroad and a regional base for the Civil Rights Movement. — ABC News, 10 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1842, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Underground Railroad

• abode
• anode
• barcode
• bestowed
• boatload
• borrowed
• carload
• caseload
• cathode
• commode
• corrode
• crossroad

Kids Definition

Underground Railroad

noun

: a system of cooperation among active antislavery people in the U.S. before 1863 by which people escaping enslavement were secretly helped to reach the North or Canada