noun · verb · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK, US:/ˈsʌbˌweɪ/
UK, US:[ˈsʌbˌweɪ̯]
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ʌbweɪ
CMU ARPABET:S AH1 B W EY2
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
An underground railway, especially for mass transit of people in urban areas.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Canada, Scotland, South-Africa, US
Examples
He is going to Westminster by subway.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A train that runs on such an underground railway.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Canada, Scotland, South-Africa, US
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A rapid transit system, regardless of the elevation of its right of way; a metro system.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Canada, US
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
An underground walkway, tunnel for pedestrians (called pedestrian underpass in US).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
An underground route for pipes, sewers, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
An underground route for creatures (e.g. bats).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
verb
Meaning 7
To travel by underground railway.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, informal, intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
an electric railway operating below the surface of the ground (usually in a city)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
in Paris the subway system is called the `metro' and in London it is called the `tube' or the `underground'
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: metro, tube, underground, subway system
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: railway, railroad, railroad line, railway line, railway system
9
noun
Meaning 9
an underground tunnel or passage enabling pedestrians to cross a road or railway
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: underpass
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: tunnel
History
Etymology
From sub- + way.
Across languages
Translations
189 source translations are retained for this English entry.