tunnel

Meaning

Noun

1. An underground or underwater passage.
2. A passage through or under some obstacle.
3. A hole in the ground made by an animal, a burrow.
4. A wrapper for a protocol that cannot otherwise be used because it is unsupported, blocked, or insecure.
5. A vessel with a broad mouth at one end, a pipe or tube at the other, for conveying liquor, fluids, etc., into casks, bottles, or other vessels; a funnel.
6. The opening of a chimney for the passage of smoke; a flue.
7. A level passage driven across the measures, or at right angles to veins which it is desired to reach; distinguished from the drift, or gangway, which is led along the vein when reached by the tunnel.
8. (figuratively) Anything that resembles a tunnel.

Verb

1. (transitive) To make a tunnel through or under something; to burrow.
2. (intransitive) To dig a tunnel.
3. To transmit something through a tunnel (wrapper for an insecure or unsupported protocol).
4. (transitive) To insert a catheter into a vein to allow long-term use.
5. To undergo the quantum-mechanical phenomenon where a particle penetrates through a barrier that it classically cannot surmount.

Synonyms

cave

hole

🕳️

subway

burrow

gallery

underground passage

cavern

mouth

passage

passageway

collector

corridor

muzzle

tube

grotto

abyss

canal

hall

mine

maw

jaws

warren

cave entrance

utilidor

deep hole

walk-through

adit

aisle

alley

alleyway

below ground

chasm

den

divide

drift

duct

excavation

gangway

gulf

hallway

level

meatus

opening

ravine

shelter

underpass

Translations

tunnel

Tunnel

túnel

tunnel

tunnel

σήραγγα

galleria

túnel

τούνελ

túnel

tünel

υπόγειος δρόμος

Stollen

نفق

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈtʌn(ə)l/

Etymology

Cognate with Old English: tunne

In summary

From Middle French tonnelle (“net”) or tonel (“cask”), diminutive of Old French tonne (“cask”), a word of uncertain origin and affiliation. Related to Old English tunne (“tun; cask; barrel”). More at tun.