[way] n [ME, fr. OE weg; akin to OHG weg way, OE wegan to move, L vehere to carry, via way] (bef. 12c) 1 a: a thoroughfare for travel or transportation from place to place b: an opening for passage "this door is the only ~ out of the room"
2: the course traveled from one place to another: route 3 a: a course (as a series of actions or sequence of events) leading in a direction or toward an objective "led the ~ to eventual open heart operations --Current Biog." b (1): a course of action "took the easy ~ out" (2): opportunity, capability, or fact of doing as one pleases "always manages to get her own ~" c: a possible decision, action, or outcome: possibility "they were rude--no two ~s about it"
4. a: manner or method of doing or happening; also: method of accomplishing: means b: feature, respect "in no ~ resembles her mother" c: a usu. specified degree of participation in an activity or enterprise "active in real estate in a small ~"
5. a: characteristic, regular, or habitual manner or mode of being, behaving, or happening "knows nothing of the ~s of women" b: ability to get along well or perform well "she has a ~ with kids" "a ~ with words"
6: the length of a course: distance "has come a long ~ in her studies" "still have a ~ to go" 7: movement or progress along a course "worked her ~ up the corporate ladder"
8. a: direction "is coming this ~" b: participant--usu. used in combination "three-way discussion" 9: state of affairs: condition, state "that's the ~ things are"
10. a pl but sometimes sing in constr: an inclined structure upon which a ship is built or supported in launching b pl: the guiding surfaces on the bed of a machine along which a table or carriage moves 11: category, kind--usu. used in the phrase in the way of "doesn't require much in the ~ of expensive equipment --Forbes" 12: motion or speed of a ship or boat through the water syn see method -- all the way : to the full or entire extent: as far as possible "ran all the way home" "seated all the way in the back" -- by the way : by way of interjection or digression: incidentally -- by way of 1: for the purpose of
2: by the route through: via -- in a way 1: within limits: with reservations
2: from one point of view -- in one's way also in the way 1: in a position to be encountered by one: in or along one's course "an opportunity had been put in my way --Ellen Glasgow"
2: in a position to hinder or obstruct -- on the way or on one's way : moving along in one's course: in progress -- out of the way 1: wrong, improper "didn't know I'd said anything out of the way"
2. a: in or to a secluded place b: unusual, remarkable "there's nothing out of the way about the plan"
3: done, completed "got his homework out of the way" -- the way 1: in view of the manner in which "you'd think she was rich, the way she spends money"
2: like, as "we have cats the way other people have mice --James Thurber"
[2]way adj (1799): of, connected with, or constituting an intermediate point on a route "visited five major countries plus ~ points" [3]way adv (1849) 1 a: away
7. "is ~ ahead of the class" b: by far: much "ate ~ too much"
2: all the way "pull the switch ~ back" -- from way back : of long standing "friends from way back"