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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The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center ranked second overall in the Best History Museum category, landing in the top three for the fifth year in a row. Kaycee Sloan, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025 Treadwell was an ardent abolitionist who made his property a stop on the Underground Railroad. James Alexander, Hartford Courant, 29 June 2025 In British media and betting houses, other potential Bond actors range from Aaron Taylor-Johnson of 28 Years Later and Kick-Ass to Aaron Pierre of Rebel Ridge and The Underground Railroad. Bill Chappell, NPR, 26 June 2025 That massive liberation—which freed ten times more enslaved people in one night than in Tubman’s roughly 13 trips on the Underground Railroad—was the subject of historian Edda Fields-Black’s 2025 Pulitzer Prize-winning account, Combee. Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2025 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 9 Jul. 2025.

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

More from Merriam-Webster on Underground Railroad

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