railroad tunnel
1
3.5
- noun
- /ˈreɪlˌrɔrd ˈtʌnəl/
- US
:
túnel ferroviario
- abandoned railroad tunnel
Examples
-
My next stop was at the Tunnel Hill Historic Reserve, the site of the southernmost railroad tunnel in New Zealand.
Blog text (15) -
His greatest feat was cutting four railroad tunnels through the Blue Ridge Mountains, a task begun in 1850 and completed eight years later.
Fiction book (1991) -
The train sped through the dark railroad tunnel, echoing against the walls as it left the city.
-
We explored the historic railroad tunnel that had been closed for many years, its walls covered in graffiti.
-
During our hike, we came across an old railroad tunnel carved into the mountain, a fascinating piece of engineering.
Synonyms
615
1.0
An underground passage for cars, trains, or people to travel through
7
3.2
A passage built under the ground for people or vehicles to pass through
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a tunnel constructed for trains' is directly derivable from combining 'railroad' (tracks/rail system for trains) with 'tunnel' (a man-made passage). This is a transparent noun–noun compound following a common compositional pattern cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.
Etymology
Railroad tunnel comes from the simple image of digging a long hole through a hill and putting tracks inside so 'trains' can 'pass through'. The parts railroad (tracks for 'trains') and tunnel (the long hole) explain why it means 'a tunnel built for trains'.