tunnel

• n. トンネル；穴；洞窟の通路
• vt. トンネルを掘る；通路を開く；トンネルを掘る
• vi. トンネルを掘る；通路を開く

古フランス語のtonel, pailから、tonne, barrel, bucketから、語源はtunと同じ。 もともとは漏斗状の鳥網または煙突で、後にtunnelトンネルに由来する。

tunnel

tunnel: see ton

tunnel (n.)

early 15c., "funnel-shaped net for catching birds," from Middle French tonnelle "net," or tonel "cask," diminutive of Old French tonne "tun, cask for liquids," possibly from the same source as Old English tunne (see tun).

Sense of "tube, pipe" (1540s) developed in English and led to sense of "underground passage" (1660s). This sense subsequently has been borrowed into French (1878). The earlier native word for this was mine (n.). Meaning "burrow of an animal" is from 1873. Tunnel vision first recorded 1912. The amusement park tunnel of love is attested from 1911 (in reference to New York's Luna Park). The figurative light at the end of the tunnel has been seen since 1882.

The "Tunnel of Love," an attraction found at many amusement parks, has been responsible for a surprising number of proposals. In this and similar devices, couples are allowed to drift through dark or semi-dark underground caverns, usually in a boat or gondola borne on an artificial stream of water. ... Their dim interiors often give a bashful young man the opportunity to propose. ["The American Magazine," July 1922]

tunnel (v.)

"excavate underground," 1795, from tunnel (n.). From 1570s as "furnish with a tunnel." Related: Tunneled; tunneling.

1. The Channel Tunnel project is the biggest civil engineering project in Europe.

イギリス海峡トンネルはヨーロッパ最大の土木工事である。

2.The Channel tunnel was due to open towards the end of 1993.

海峡トンネルは1993年末までに開通する予定です。

3.A host of problems may delay the opening of the Channel Tunnel .

イギリス海峡トンネルの開通を遅らせる可能性がある問題の大きなかご。

4.He was helping wire up the Channel Tunnel last season.

彼は昨シーズン、イギリス海峡トンネルのケーブル敷設に協力していた。

5.The caterpillars tunnel into the fruit to grow and mature.

毛虫は果実に潜り込み、そこで成虫として成長する。