Meanings
alternative bridge and tunnel
- New York Cityderogatorynot comparableslangOf people who travel to Manhattan via bridge or tunnel from surrounding communities.
Well, you're not bridge-and-tunnel. No trace of the boroughs when you talk. So that means Manhattan, that means money.
2009 March 9, Flowers for Your Grave (Castle), season 1, episode 1, spoken by Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion)3 more examples
"Tonight we get the Bridge-and-Tunnel People." He said this like, "Tonight the Nazis attack." "The Bridge-and-Tunnel People?" "They come from Jersey and Long Island to get drunk and have a good time."
1990 July, Joe Bob Briggs, “My Life as Joe Bob Briggs”, in Texas Monthly, →ISSN, page 132And much to the consternation of their city cousins, many of whom view them with the same disdain they reserve in the other three seasons for the bridge-and-tunnel people who dare to cross the Hudson and East Rivers for a bit of Manhattan glamour, they seem to be taking over.
1999 August 1, Bernard Stamler, “Whose Hamptons Are They Anyway?”, in The New York Times, →ISSNThe worst drug calamity, the worst-case scenario, was that you accidentally took too much ecstasy and were actually nice to a Bridge-and-Tunnel person.
2003, James St. James, Party Monster: A Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland, →ISBN, →OL, page 67
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOf people who travel to Manhattan via bridge or tunnel from surrounding communities.
Origin
From the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and the fact that road travel to Manhattan Island requires passage over a bridge or through a tunnel.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
bridge-and-tunnel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bridge-and-tunnel
“bridge-and-tunnel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bridge-and-tunnel. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bridge-and-tunnel,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bridge-and-tunnel.
Source: bridge-and-tunnel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.