I. tun ‧ nel 1 W3 /ˈtʌnl/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: tonel 'barrel' , from tonne , from Medieval Latin tunna ]
1 . a passage that has been dug under the ground for cars, trains etc to go through:
a railway tunnel
the Channel Tunnel (=between England and France)
2 . a passage under the ground that animals have dug to live in
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + tunnel
▪ a two-mile/1500-foot-long etc tunnel
A 250-metre-long tunnel provides access to all parts of the development.
▪ a dark tunnel
He peered uneasily down the dark tunnel at the end of the platform.
▪ a narrow tunnel
She ran down the narrow tunnel leading to the exit.
▪ an underground tunnel
The prisoners escaped through an underground tunnel.
▪ a rail/railway tunnel
the 15km long Gotthard railway tunnel
▪ a road tunnel
a road tunnel through the mountains
▪ the Channel Tunnel (=the tunnel under the sea between England and France)
They went by train via the Channel Tunnel.
■ phrases
▪ the roof of a tunnel
The roof of the tunnel was a foot above his head.
▪ the entrance to a tunnel/tunnel entrance
To the right was the entrance to a second tunnel.
■ verbs
▪ dig a tunnel
Burglars had dug a tunnel under the building in an attempted raid.
▪ build a tunnel
The contractors will start building the tunnel next month.
▪ a tunnel leads somewhere
The Greenwich Foot Tunnel leads under the RiverThames.
II. tunnel 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle tunnelled , present participle tunnelling British English , tunneled , tunneling American English ) [intransitive always + adverb/preposition, transitive]
1 . to dig a long passage under the ground
tunnel into/through/under
They were tunnelling into the mountainside.
tunnel your way under/through etc
The prisoners tunneled their way under the fence.
2 . if insects tunnel into something, they make holes in it
tunnel into
The grubs tunnel into the wood.