subways

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of subway.

   Both subways were shut down for repairs over the holiday.

   Tourists often find the older subways harder to navigate than the newer lines.

   Note

   A plural whose meaning shifts with geography. In the US, Canada, Scotland and South Africa, subways are underground railways or the trains that run on them. In North America the word can even cover a whole metro system, elevated stretches included. In British usage, subways are tunnels for pedestrians, which Americans call pedestrian underpasses. The plural also names underground routes for pipes and sewers, so context tells you which kind of tunnel is meant.

2. 2
   verbcolloquialUS

   Third-person singular simple present of subway.

   My sister subways into the city rather than dealing with parking.

   He subways to the stadium for every home game.

   Note

   It is spelled exactly like the plural noun, but here it is a verb: informal American English for traveling by underground railway. The verb is intransitive, so it never takes a direct object. A phrase of direction does that work instead, as in subways into the city or subways to work. In formal writing, "takes the subway" is the safer choice.

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