1
a
: a covered passageway
specifically
: a horizontal passageway through or under an obstruction
b
: a subterranean gallery (as in a mine)
c
: burrow
tunneled or tunnelled; tunneling or tunnelling
ˈtən-liŋ 
ˈtə-nᵊl-iŋ
1
: to make or use a tunnel
2
physics
: to pass through a potential barrier
electrons tunneling through an insulator between semiconductors
: to make a tunnel or similar opening through or under
also
: to make (one's way) by or as if by making a tunnel
Examples of tunnel in a Sentence
Noun
The train goes through a tunnel in the mountain.
The moles dug tunnels in the yard.
Verb
Workers are tunneling through the hill.
Insects had tunneled into the tree.
Recent Examples on the Web
Matthew Continetti, National Review, 19 Apr. 2024
From the standpoint of the salmon industry, his other water policies, including a 45-mile water tunnel under the delta and fast-tracking construction of the Sites Reservoir in the western Sacramento Valley, will make things worse.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2024
New research, however, suggests there is light at the end of the tunnel for those with symptoms sometimes years after an infection.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 18 Apr. 2024
Goldfarb: There are a number of great salamander and frog tunnels, these little narrow passages that go under roadways.
—Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2024
The tunnel was completed on time and within budget.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
To obtain the copper ore, Resolution will use a method known as block cave mining, in which tunnels are drilled beneath the ore body, and then collapsed, leaving the ore to be moved to a crushing facility.
—The Arizona Republic, 15 Apr. 2024
Commissioned by Stazione Centrale, the piece evokes the mountains from which the tunnel was excavated, with paper images glued onto vertical slats and distributed to form a layered composition with the station visible behind.
—James Imam, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024
Climate & Environment For Subscribers Newsom wants to build a $16-billion water tunnel.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
Julie Watson, Fortune, 5 Mar. 2024
Ashikaga Flower Park Ashikaga Flower Park is the only location in Japan with a Kibana wisteria tunnel visitors can walk underneath.
—Talia Avakian, Travel + Leisure, 2 Mar. 2024
Workers at the Encore site believed they weren’t allowed to stop tunneling for any reason, according to Merideth, two separate former employees who worked at the Encore jobsite, and notes from an OSHA investigator’s employee interviews.
—Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 27 Feb. 2024
But the exponential difficulty of reaching those locations would always rise even faster, making tunneling an unlikely proposition.
—Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024
Some beetles feed just underneath bark while others tunnel more deeply into heartwood.
—Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 11 Jan. 2024
Saw-Wai Hla With Hla et al.'s method, X-rays hit the sample and excite the core electrons, which then tunnel to the detector tip.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 31 May 2023
With enough disorder, Anderson concluded, a particle would never tunnel far.
—Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024
After 13 years or 17 years, depending on their brood, the cicadas will tunnel to the surface to reach maturity and engage in a monthlong, noisy search for a mate.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 20 Jan. 2024
Noun
To protect its personnel and weapons from the Israeli air force, Hamas built a submerged state of tunnels and spider holes.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 19 Apr. 2024
From the standpoint of the salmon industry, his other water policies, including a 45-mile water tunnel under the delta and fast-tracking construction of the Sites Reservoir in the western Sacramento Valley, will make things worse.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2024
New research, however, suggests there is light at the end of the tunnel for those with symptoms sometimes years after an infection.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 18 Apr. 2024
Goldfarb: There are a number of great salamander and frog tunnels, these little narrow passages that go under roadways.
—Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2024
The tunnel was completed on time and within budget.
—Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
To obtain the copper ore, Resolution will use a method known as block cave mining, in which tunnels are drilled beneath the ore body, and then collapsed, leaving the ore to be moved to a crushing facility.
—The Arizona Republic, 15 Apr. 2024
Commissioned by Stazione Centrale, the piece evokes the mountains from which the tunnel was excavated, with paper images glued onto vertical slats and distributed to form a layered composition with the station visible behind.
—James Imam, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024
Climate & Environment For Subscribers Newsom wants to build a $16-billion water tunnel.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
Verb
Going to the office has been no small feat for Jon Slaughter’s marketing team at Sugar Bowl, requiring the employees to dig down several feet and then tunnel through to the front door after a powerful blizzard dumped more than 10 feet (3 meters) of snow on the Northern California ski resort.
—Julie Watson, Fortune, 5 Mar. 2024
Ashikaga Flower Park Ashikaga Flower Park is the only location in Japan with a Kibana wisteria tunnel visitors can walk underneath.
—Talia Avakian, Travel + Leisure, 2 Mar. 2024
Workers at the Encore site believed they weren’t allowed to stop tunneling for any reason, according to Merideth, two separate former employees who worked at the Encore jobsite, and notes from an OSHA investigator’s employee interviews.
—Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 27 Feb. 2024
But the exponential difficulty of reaching those locations would always rise even faster, making tunneling an unlikely proposition.
—Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024
Some beetles feed just underneath bark while others tunnel more deeply into heartwood.
—Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 11 Jan. 2024
Saw-Wai Hla With Hla et al.'s method, X-rays hit the sample and excite the core electrons, which then tunnel to the detector tip.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 31 May 2023
With enough disorder, Anderson concluded, a particle would never tunnel far.
—Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024
After 13 years or 17 years, depending on their brood, the cicadas will tunnel to the surface to reach maturity and engage in a monthlong, noisy search for a mate.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 20 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tunnel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near tunnel
Cite this Entry
“Tunnel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tunnel. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tunnel
2 of 2 verb
tunneled or tunnelled; tunneling or tunnelling
ˈtən-liŋ,
-ᵊl-iŋ
: to make a tunnel
Medical Definition
tunnel
noun
tun·nel
ˈtən-ᵊl
: a bodily channel see carpal tunnel
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