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tunnel

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A hole made by an animal, usually for shelter.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

tuhnuhl

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈtʌnəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A hole made by an animal, usually for shelter

  2. A hole in the ground made by an animal, a burrow.

  3. A passageway through or under something, usually underground (especially one for trains or cars)

    “The tunnel reduced congestion at that intersection.”

  4. A passage through or under some obstacle.

  5. An underground or underwater passage.

  6. The opening of a chimney for the passage of smoke; a flue.

verb

  1. transitive

    To make a tunnel through or under something; to burrow.

  2. intransitive

    To dig a tunnel.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A hole made by an animal, usually for shelter

Used this way, tunnel is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use tunnel

  • “The tunnel reduced congestion at that intersection.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

wind tunnelcarpal tunnelchannel tunneltunnel visiontunnel diodetarsal tunneltunnel syndromelong tunnel

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • tunnel visionnounCompound term

    Visual impairment involving a loss of peripheral vision.

  • carpal tunnel syndromenounCompound term

    A painful disorder caused by compression of a nerve in the carpal tunnel.

  • channel tunnelnounCompound term

    The railroad tunnel between France and England under the English Channel.

  • carpal tunnelnounCompound term

    A passageway in the wrist through which nerves and the flexor muscles of the hands pass.

  • wind tunnelnounCompound term

    A structure resembling a tunnel where air is blown at known velocities for testing parts of aircraft.

  • railroad tunnelnounCompound term

    A tunnel through which the railroad track runs.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.