way
- 01 A1 Beginner
n.a route, road, or path you take to get somewhere.
n.a thoroughfare, route, or physical path leading from one place to another.
Simple“Can you tell me the way to the nearest train station?”
In context“The hikers lost their way when the dense fog obscured the trail markers along the ridge.”
- 02 A2 Elementary
n.the method or style you use to do something.
n.a method, procedure, or manner of performing an action.
Simple“I like the way she explains difficult math problems.”
In context“The company is looking for a more efficient way to manage its global supply chain without increasing costs.”
- 03 A2 Elementary
n.the direction that someone or something is moving.
n.the direction of movement or the position of something relative to the speaker.
Simple“Look both ways before you cross the busy street.”
In context“The wind was blowing the wrong way, making it nearly impossible for the small boat to leave the harbour.”
Synonyms - 04 B1 Intermediate
- 05 C2 Proficiency
n.the movement or speed of a boat through the water.
n.the forward or backward motion of a vessel through the water; momentum.
Simple“The ship slowly lost way as it approached the wooden dock.”
In context“The captain ordered the engines to stop, but the massive tanker carried its way for several miles before coming to a halt.”
- 06 B1 Intermediate
adv.used to mean 'very' or 'by a large amount'.
adv.an intensifier indicating a great degree or a significant distance.
Simple“The price of that new phone is way too high for me.”
In context“The actual results of the experiment were way beyond what the researchers had initially predicted.”
Usage way to make · ways to get · way to help
“In particular, though, I loved a Scottish fairytale called The Black Bull of Norroway, which I think, in many ways, has been under the surface of everything I’ve ever written.”
“For him, those hours changed the way he thought about the people around him.”
From Middle English way, wey, from Old English weġ, from Proto-West Germanic weg, from Proto-Germanic wegaz, from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-. Doublet of voe and possibly via. Cognates Cognate with North Frisian wai, wäi (“way”), Saterland Frisian Wai (“way”), West Frisian wei (“road; way”), Central Franconian Wääch (“way”), Cimbrian bege, bèg (“way”), Dutch weg (“way”), German, Low German Weg (“way”), Limburgish waeg (“way”), Luxembourgish Wee (“way”), Mòcheno be (“way”), Yiddish וועג (veg, “way”), Danish vej (“way”), Faroese, Icelandic vegur (“way”), Norwegian Bokmål veg, vei (“way”), Norwegian Nynorsk veg (“way”), Swedish väg (“way”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌲𐍃 (wigs, “path; road”).
Apheresis of away.
From the sound it represents, by analogy with other (velar) letters such as kay and gay.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.