tunnelers
Subway construction workers
Tunnelers are people or animals that dig tunnels.
The word most often describes workers who excavate underground passages for subways, mines, or utilities: The tunnelers broke through to the other side after months of drilling.
It also applies to burrowing creatures like moles or groundhogs.
In military contexts, tunnelers have historically dug passages beneath enemy fortifications.
Burrowing insectivore mammals
- gophersBurrowing North American rodents
- groundhogsLarge burrowing North American rodents
- badgersStriped burrowing mustelids
- volesSmall burrowing rodents
rabbits · wombats · prairie dogs · chipmunks · armadillos · meerkats · aardvarks · woodchucks
Those who fled confinement
- prisonersIncarcerated individuals
- POWsCaptured military personnel
- contrabandProhibited trade goods
- secret passagesConcealed routes through structures
freedom seekers · diggers · accomplices · lookouts · forgers · shoring · ventilation · dispersal
Those who excavate
- boring machinesTools that cut tunnels
- minersOre extractors
- drillersThose who bore holes
- excavatorsMachines for digging earth
sappers · navvies · blasters · muckers · cutterheads · undercutters
Soldiers specializing in fortifications
- siege warfareSurrounding fortifications to force capitulation
- trenchesElongated ground excavations
- combat engineersMilitary construction and demolition specialists
- fortificationsDefensive barriers against attack
mines · infiltrators · Viet Cong · listening posts · demolition teams · explosive charges · smuggling routes · escape routes
moles
Burrowing insectivore mammals
- gophersBurrowing North American rodents
- groundhogsLarge burrowing North American rodents
- badgersStriped burrowing mustelids
voles · rabbits · wombats · prairie dogs · chipmunks · armadillos · meerkats · aardvarks · woodchucks · pocket gophers
escapees
Those who fled confinement
- prisonersIncarcerated individuals
- POWsCaptured military personnel
- contrabandProhibited trade goods
secret passages · freedom seekers · diggers · accomplices · lookouts · forgers · shoring · ventilation · dispersal · moonlight
diggers
Those who excavate
- boring machinesTools that cut tunnels
- minersOre extractors
- drillersThose who bore holes
excavators · sappers · navvies · blasters · muckers · cutterheads · undercutters
sappers
Soldiers specializing in fortifications
- siege warfareSurrounding fortifications to force capitulation
- trenchesElongated ground excavations
- combat engineersMilitary construction and demolition specialists
fortifications · mines · infiltrators · Viet Cong · listening posts · demolition teams · explosive charges · smuggling routes · escape routes · concealment
- mining workersminers, coal miners, gold miners, diamond miners, mine workers
- scarab beetlesscarab, scarab beetle, dung beetle, rhinoceros beetle, June beetle
tunnelersblockaders
Those who obstruct access
barricaders · fortifiers · sealers · fillers