Meaning

5 senses

  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.

More definitions
  • force a way through
  • move through by or as by digging

Examples

266 sentences

  1. Where is the longest tunnel in Japan?

    Де найдовший тонель в Японії? — anastasishko

    ruГде находится самый длинный туннель в Японии? — marafon

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. There's somebody in the tunnel.

    У тунелі хтось є. — deniko

    ruВ туннеле кто-то есть. — marafon

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. They dug through the mountain and built a tunnel.

    Вони пробилися крізь гору і побудували тунель. — MaxUA

    ruОни пробились сквозь гору и построили туннель. — Balamax

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. I will try to avoid tunnels as much as possible.

    Я спробую уникати тунелів, як тільки це можливо. — deniko

    ruЯ буду стараться избегать тоннелей, как только можно. — poji

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. Tom disappeared into the tunnel.

    Том зник у тунелі. — deniko

    ruТом исчез в туннеле. — odexed

    CM · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Origin

From Middle English tonnel, from Old French tonel(e), diminutive of tone (“cask”), a word

From Middle English tonnel, from Old French tonel(e), diminutive of tone (“cask”), a word of uncertain origin and affiliation. Related to Old English tunne (“tun; cask; barrel”). More at tun.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

tunnels, tunneling, tunneled, tunneled
Base formtunnel · to tunnel
3rd person singulartunnels
Present participletunneling
Past simpletunneled / tunnelled
Past participletunneled / tunnelled

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theytunnel
he, she, ittunnels

Past simpleLesson

all personstunneled

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave tunneled
he, she, ithas tunneled

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill tunnel

Synonyms

2 synonyms
undermine
Close in meaning
  • move through by or as by digging:burrow

Word family

27 related words
Derivedair tunnelcarpal tunnelcross-tunnelear tunnelflesh tunnelhigh tunnellove tunnelquantum tunnelscreech tunnelsteam tunnelsun tunneltime tunneltree tunneltunnel booktunnel brokertunnel diodetunnel diseasetunnel nettunnel plugtunnel ramtunnel rattunnel runningtunnel sterntunnel vision

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
tunertungtungstentunictuppenceturbanturbine
tunnel — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto