noun · neutral
tunnel
/ˈtʌnəl/TUN·nel
Band 5-6speakingtask2
an underground or underwater passage built for vehicles, trains, or pedestrians
Examples
“The new road tunnel reduced travel time under the mountain.”
“Workers used a tunnel-boring machine to dig the long tunnel.”
“The tunnel links the island to the mainland by rail.”
Band 8 sentence
“Constructing an undersea tunnel presented enormous engineering challenges but ultimately improved freight links between the ports.”
Collocations
- road tunnel
- tunnel boring machine
Word family
tunnel nountunnelling / tunneling verb / gerund
Common mistakes
subway (to mean tunnel)→tunnel
underpass (for long undersea passages)→tunnel
Say it for a higher band
5passage→6underpass→7+tunnel
Synonyms
underpass
Easily confused
underpass
“Pedestrians used the underpass to cross the busy road safely.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Transport & Traffic
Learn it with its set