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
Cora Frazier, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
Far more likely is a controversial tunnel to bring Sacramento River around, rather than through, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and to the California aqueduct.
—Robert Greene, The Mercury News, 1 Feb. 2025
Daniel Rothberg, ProPublica, 8 Jan. 2025
This is very different to an IP block, where traffic is restricted by networks and which can be fixed by a VPN masking a user’s location, tunneling through a location outside the restricted area.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for tunnel 
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Noun
Cognitive/Reasoning Milestones Ideally, by this age, your Elon Musk can stack two or more blocks in a model of the tunnel that his construction company built beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center.
—Cora Frazier, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
Far more likely is a controversial tunnel to bring Sacramento River around, rather than through, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and to the California aqueduct.
—Robert Greene, The Mercury News, 1 Feb. 2025
Verb
The authority also spent $24.5 million to purchase the Las Vegas Monorail out of bankruptcy, giving Boring the right to tunnel in the monorail’s noncompete territory.
—Daniel Rothberg, ProPublica, 8 Jan. 2025
This is very different to an IP block, where traffic is restricted by networks and which can be fixed by a VPN masking a user’s location, tunneling through a location outside the restricted area.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for tunnel
Dictionary Entries Near tunnel
Cite this Entry
“Tunnel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tunnel. Accessed 11 Feb. 2025.
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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