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tunneller - n. & v. --n. 1 an artificial underground passage through a hill or under a road or river etc., esp. for a railway or road to pass through, or in a mine.
2 an underground passage dug by a burrowing animal.
3 a prolonged period of difficulty or suffering (esp. in metaphors, e.g. the end of the tunnel).
4 a tube containing a propeller shaft etc. --v. (tunnelled, tunnelling; US tunneled, tunneling)
1 intr. (foll. by through, into, etc.) make a tunnel through (a hill etc.).
2 tr. make (one's way) by tunnelling.
3 intr. Physics pass through a potential barrier. tunnel diode Electronics a two-terminal semiconductor diode using tunnelling electrons to perform high-speed switching operations. tunnel-kiln a kiln in which ceramic ware is carried on trucks along a continuously-heated passage. tunnel-net a fishing-net wide at the mouth and narrow at the other end. tunnel vision 1 vision that is defective in not adequately including objects away from the centre of the field of view.
2 colloq. inability to grasp the wider implications of a situation. tunneller n. [ME f. OF tonel dimin. of tonne TUN] |
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