# subway

Pronunciation: say "SUB-way" /ˈsʌbˌweɪ/

## Noun

1. An underground railway, especially one used for moving large numbers of people through a city. *(dialectal, Canada, Scotland, South Africa, US)*
   - Simple: An electric train system that runs through tunnels under a city.
   - _Millions of commuters ride the subway beneath the city each day._
   - _A new subway line will connect the airport to the city center._
2. A train that travels along a city's underground railway line. *(dialectal, Canada, Scotland, South Africa, US)*
   - Simple: A train that runs in the tunnels of a city's underground railway.
   - _The last subway of the night left the platform just after midnight._
   - _Two subways collided in the tunnel during the morning rush._
3. A rapid transit system for a city, regardless of whether its tracks run underground or above the ground; a metro system. *(Canada, US)*
   - Simple: A city train system, even when some of its tracks run above the ground.
   - _Much of the city's subway actually runs on elevated tracks above the avenues._
   - _Planners proposed extending the subway out to the suburban districts._
4. An underground walkway or tunnel that lets pedestrians pass beneath a road or railway. *(British)*
   - Simple: A path under a road or railway that lets people walk across safely.
   - _Pedestrians can reach the far platform through the subway beneath the tracks._
   - _The council painted bright murals along the subway to make it feel safer._
5. An underground passage or route that carries pipes, sewers, and similar service lines.
   - Simple: A tunnel or passage built underground to carry pipes, wires, or sewers.
   - _Engineers inspected the subway carrying the city's water mains._
   - _The old brick subway still houses gas and electric lines._
7. An underground route used by animals such as bats to travel between places.
   - Simple: An underground tunnel or path that animals use to move around.
   - _Researchers tracked the colony through a subway linking two caves._
   - _The badgers had dug a subway connecting their burrows._

## Verb

6. To get around a city by riding the underground railway. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: To get from place to place by riding an underground train.
   - _On weekdays she prefers to subway rather than sit in traffic._
   - _We subwayed up to the museum and walked the rest of the way._

## Origin

Formed from the prefix "sub-" (meaning "under") plus "way".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/subway (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).