Definitions for: Way


[n] how a result is obtained or an end is achieved; "a means of control"; "an example is the best agency of instruction"; "the true way to success"
[n] a journey or passage; "they are on the way"
[n] a course of conduct; "the path of virtue"; "we went our separate ways"; "our paths in life led us apart"; "genius usually follows a revolutionary path"
[n] any artifact consisting of a road or path affording passage from one place to another; "he said he was looking for the way out"
[n] a manner of performance; "a manner of living"; "in the characteristic New York style"; "a way of life"
[n] the property of distance in general; "it's a long way to Moscow"; (colloquial) "he went a long ways"
[n] doing as one pleases or chooses; "if I had my way"
[n] a general category of things; used in the expression"in the way of"; "they didn't have much in the way of clothing"
[n] a line leading to a place or point; "he looked the other direction"; "didn't know the way home"
[n] a portion of something divided into shares; "the split the loot three ways"
[n] space for movement; "room to pass"; "make way for"; "hardly enough elbow room to turn around"
[n] the condition of things generally; "that's the way it is"; "I felt the same way"
[adv] (informal) to a great degree or by a great distance; very much; "way over budget"; "way off base"; "right smart" is regional (US S and Midland) as in"the other side of the hill is right smart steeper than the side we are on"



Webster (1913) Definition: Way, adv. [Aphetic form of away.]
Away. [Obs. or Archaic] --Chaucer.

To do way, to take away; to remove. [Obs.] ``Do way your
hands.'' --Chaucer.

To make way with, to make away with. See under Away.
[Archaic]


Way, n. [OE. wey, way, AS. weg; akin to OS., D., OHG., &
G. weg, Icel. vegr, Sw. v["a]g, Dan. vei, Goth. wigs, L. via,
and AS. wegan to move, L. vehere to carry, Skr. vah.
[root]136. Cf. Convex, Inveigh, Vehicle, Vex, Via,
Voyage, Wag, Wagon, Wee, Weigh.]
1. That by, upon, or along, which one passes or processes;
opportunity or room to pass; place of passing; passage;
road, street, track, or path of any kind; as, they built a
way to the mine. ``To find the way to heaven.'' --Shak.

I shall him seek by way and eke by street.
--Chaucer.

The way seems difficult, and steep to scale.
--Milton.

The season and ways were very improper for his
majesty's forces to march so great a distance.
--Evelyn.

2. Length of space; distance; interval; as, a great way; a
long way.

And whenever the way seemed long, Or his heart began
to fail. --Longfellow.

3. A moving; passage; procession; journey.

I prythee, now, lead the way. --Shak.

4. Course or direction of motion or process; tendency of
action; advance.

If that way be your walk, you have not far.
--Milton.

And let eternal justice take the way. --Dryden.

5. The means by which anything is reached, or anything is
accomplished; scheme; device; plan.

My best way is to creep under his gaberdine. --Shak.

By noble ways we conquest will prepare. --Dryden.

What impious ways my wishes took! --Prior.

6. Manner; method; mode; fashion; style; as, the way of
expressing one's ideas.

7. Regular course; habitual method of life or action; plan of
conduct; mode of dealing. ``Having lost the way of
nobleness.'' --Sir. P. Sidney.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths
are peace. --Prov. iii.
17.

When men lived in a grander way. --Longfellow.

8. Sphere or scope of observation. --Jer. Taylor.

The public ministers that fell in my way. --Sir W.
Temple.

9. Determined course; resolved mode of action or conduct; as,
to have one's way.

10. (Naut.)
(a) Progress; as, a ship has way.
(b) pl. The timbers on which a ship is launched.

11. pl. (Mach.) The longitudinal guides, or guiding surfaces,
on the bed of a planer, lathe, or the like, along which a
table or carriage moves.

12. (Law) Right of way. See below.

By the way, in passing; apropos; aside; apart from, though
connected with, the main object or subject of discourse.


By way of, for the purpose of; as being; in character of.


Covert way. (Fort.) See Covered way, under Covered.

In the family way. See under Family.

In the way, so as to meet, fall in with, obstruct, hinder,
etc.

In the way with, traveling or going with; meeting or being
with; in the presence of.

Milky way. (Astron.) See Galaxy, 1.

No way, No ways. See Noway, Noways, in the
Vocabulary.

On the way, traveling or going; hence, in process;
advancing toward completion; as, on the way to this
country; on the way to success.

Out of the way. See under Out.

Right of way (Law), a right of private passage over
another's ground. It may arise either by grant or
prescription. It may be attached to a house, entry, gate,
well, or city lot, as well as to a country farm. --Kent.


To be under way, or To have way (Naut.), to be in motion,
as when a ship begins to move.

To give way. See under Give.

To go one's way, or To come one's way, to go or come; to
depart or come along. --Shak.

To go the way of all the earth, to die.



To make one's way, to advance in life by one's personal
efforts.

To make way. See under Make, v. t.

Ways and means.
(a) Methods; resources; facilities.
(b) (Legislation) Means for raising money; resources for
revenue.

Way leave, permission to cross, or a right of way across,
land; also, rent paid for such right. [Eng]

Way of the cross (Eccl.), the course taken in visiting in
rotation the stations of the cross. See Station, n., 7
(c) .

Way of the rounds (Fort.), a space left for the passage of
the rounds between a rampart and the wall of a fortified
town.

Way pane, a pane for cartage in irrigated land. See Pane,
n., 4. [Prov. Eng.]

Way passenger, a passenger taken up, or set down, at some
intermediate place between the principal stations on a
line of travel.

Ways of God, his providential government, or his works.

Way station, an intermediate station between principal
stations on a line of travel, especially on a railroad.

Way train, a train which stops at the intermediate, or way,
stations; an accommodation train.

Way warden, the surveyor of a road.

Syn: Street; highway; road.

Usage: Way, Street, Highway, Road. Way is generic,
denoting any line for passage or conveyance; a highway
is literally one raised for the sake of dryness and
convenience in traveling; a road is, strictly, a way
for horses and carriages; a street is, etymologically,
a paved way, as early made in towns and cities; and,
hence, the word is distinctively applied to roads or
highways in compact settlements.

All keep the broad highway, and take delight
With many rather for to go astray. --Spenser.

There is but one road by which to climb up.
--Addison.

When night Darkens the streets, then wander
forth the sons Of Belial, flown with insolence
and wine. --Milton.


Way, v. t.
To go or travel to; to go in, as a way or path. [Obs.] ``In
land not wayed.'' --Wyclif.


Way, v. i.
To move; to progress; to go. [R.]

On a time as they together wayed. --Spenser.

Synonyms: agency, direction, elbow room, fashion, manner, means, mode, path, right smart, room, style, way of life, ways

See Also: access, aim, approach, artefact, artifact, artistic style, bearing, breathing room, breathing space, category, choice, clearance, condition, course, course, course of action, desperate measure, dint, distance, effectuation, escape, expedient, fit, form, free-living, heading, headroom, headway, houseroom, idiom, implementation, instrument, itinerary, journey, journeying, lane, lebensraum, life style, lifestyle, life-style, living space, method, modus vivendi, open sesame, parking, part, passage, path, path, percentage, pick, portion, position, primrose path, property, road, road, roadside, route, route, salvation, sea room, seating, seating area, seating room, seats, selection, setup, share, signature, spatial relation, staircase, stairs, stairway, standing room, status, stepping stone, steps, straight and narrow, strait and narrow, tendency, tool, tooth, touch, transit, transportation, transportation system, trend, vanity fair, voice, warpath, wayside, wings, wise

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