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
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Charles Johnson’s The Oxherding Tale (1982) and, more recently Max Ruff’s Lovecraft Country and Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad, both published in 2016. Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026 The Network to Freedom features a verified, ongoing list of Underground Railroad sites, facilities and programs in the United States. Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 16 Feb. 2026 Physical evidence of Underground Railroad activity in New York City is rare, and preservation experts have called this one of the most significant historic preservation discoveries in decades. Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 13 Feb. 2026 Historians say the house is the only survivor of a row of homes with ties to the Underground Railroad and was owned by prominent abolitionists Harriet and Thomas Truesdell. Hannah Kliger, CBS News, 13 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for Underground Railroad

Word History

First Known Use

1842, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Underground Railroad was in 1842

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Cite this Entry

“Underground Railroad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Underground%20Railroad. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.

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

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