The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - way n.

1) manner, method, mode, fashion, means, system, course (of action) , procedure, approach, scheme, technique, practice, modus operandi, Colloq MO (= 'modus operandi') : That's no way to talk to your mother! We have ways of making you talk. Is that any way to treat a lady?! It's the wrong way to deal with the problem. 2) manner, spirit, feeling, sense, character, approach, personality, temperament, disposition, modus vivendi (= 'lifestyle') , nature, technique, style, conduct, habit, behaviour pattern, custom: He has such a pleasant way about him. Lucinda certainly has a way with children and dogs. You city people may not approve of our down-to-earth country ways. 3) path, road, street, avenue, course, route, trail, direction: Show me the way to go home. The way to the village lies through dark woods. 4) distance; route, trail, course, road: You've come a long way since we last met. 5) progress, passage, advance, headway; speed, velocity, motion, (forward) movement: We made our way to the front of the crowd. Who has the right of way at the crossing? The tide was too strong for us to get any way on. 6 aspect, respect, particular, detail, point, sense, feature: In certain ways, you remind me of Attila the Hun. 7) clearance, pathway, avenue, scope, freedom, opportunity: When you hear a siren, drive to the side and give way. Make way for the Lord High Executioner! 8 condition, situation: She prefers the prissy 'in a family way' to the straightforward 'pregnant' and the vulgar 'have a bun in the oven'. I saw Luke yesterday and he was really in a bad way. 9) by the way. incidentally, moreover, by the by, parenthetically: By the way, have I told you how beautiful you look tonight? 10 by way of. a via, through, by means of: We drove from London to Oxford by way of Reading. b (functioning) as, in (the) way of, in the capacity of, equivalent to, more or less, something like: Richard is by way of being an expert on eccentric behaviour. 1) 1 give way. a collapse, break (down) , fail, cave in, fall (down) , crumble, crumple, disintegrate, go to pieces: The cable gave way, causing the bridge to collapse. b yield, surrender, retreat, concede, withdraw, accede, make concessions, acquiesce, acknowledge: The trouble is that they both think they are in the right and neither will give way. 12 under way. proceeding, progressing, on the move, moving, advancing, going, begun, started, in progress, operating, functioning, at work, US in work, Colloq in the works, US in the pipeline: Once under way, it takes the ship three days to make the crossing. Plans are under way to reclaim the slum area for a park.