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tunnel

 - 6 dictionary results

tun⋅nel

  [tuhn-l] noun, verb, -neled, -nel⋅ing or (especially British) -nelled, -nel⋅ling.
Use tunnel in a Sentence
–noun
1. an underground passage.
2. a passageway, as for trains or automobiles, through or under an obstruction, as a city, mountain, river, harbor, or the like.
3. an approximately horizontal gallery or corridor in a mine.
4. the burrow of an animal.
5. Dialect. a funnel.
–verb (used with object)
6. to construct a passageway through or under: to tunnel a mountain.
7. to make or excavate (a tunnel or underground passage): to tunnel a passage under a river.
8. to move or proceed by or as if by boring a tunnel: The river tunneled its way through the mountain.
9. to pierce or hollow out, as with tunnels.
–verb (used without object)
10. to make a tunnel or tunnels: to tunnel through the Alps.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME tonel (n.) < MF tonele, tonnelle funnel-shaped net, fem. of tonnel cask, dim. of tonne tun; see -elle

Related forms:
tun⋅nel⋅er; especially British, tun⋅nel⋅ler, noun
tun⋅nel⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To tunnel
tun·nel   (tŭn'əl)   
n.  

  1. An underground or underwater passage.

  2. A passage through or under a barrier.

  3. Obsolete The main flue on a chimney.

v.   tun·neled or tun·nelled, tun·nel·ing or tun·nel·ling, tun·nels

v.   tr.

  1. To make a tunnel through or under.

  2. To produce, shape, or dig in the form of a tunnel.

v.   intr.
To make a tunnel.

[Middle English tonel, tubular net, from Old French tonnelle, diminutive of tonne, tun, possibly of Celtic origin.]
tun'nel·er, tun'nel·ler n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

tunnel  (n.)
c.1440, "funnel-shaped net for catching birds," from M.Fr. tonnelle "net," or tonel "cask," dim. of O.Fr. tonne "tun, cask for liquids," possibly from the same source as O.E. tunne (see tun). Sense of "tube, pipe" (1545) developed in Eng. and led to sense of "underground passage," which is first attested 1765, about five years after the first modern tunnel was built (on the Grand Trunk Canal in England). This sense subsequently has been borrowed into Mod.Fr. (1878). The earlier native word for this was mine. Meaning "burrow of an animal" is from 1873. The verb meaning "excavate underground" is first attested 1795. Tunnel vision first recorded 1949. The fig. phrase light at the end of the tunnel is attested from 1922.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: tun·nel
Pronunciation: 't&n-&l
Function: noun
: a bodily channel —see CARPAL TUNNEL
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

tunnel tun·nel (tŭn'əl)
n.
A passage located through or under a barrier.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

tunnel

see light at the end of the tunnel.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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