Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Forward movement or the rate of forward movement, especially of a ship.
- n. Progress toward a goal.
- n. The clear vertical space beneath a ceiling or archway; clearance.
- n. The distance in time or space that separates two vehicles traveling the same route.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Motion ahead or forward; force or amount of such motion; rate of progress: said specifically of a ship, but applied to all kinds of progress, literally or figuratively.
- n. In architecture, clear space in height, as from a floor to a ceiling, or from the ground to the crown of an arch; specifically, the perpendicular distance from any step or landing of a stair to the ceiling.
- n. In coal-mining, a cross-heading.
- n. In railroading, the. time which elapses after one train passes a certain point before the following train passes that point.
Wiktionary
- n. Movement ahead or forward.
- n. nautical Forward motion, or its rate.
- n. countable, transport The interval of time or distance between the fronts of two vehicles (e.g. buses) moving in succession in the same direction, especially along the same pre-determined route.
- n. uncountable, figuratively Progress toward a goal.
- n. countable The clearance beneath an object, such as an arch, ceiling or bridge; headroom.
- n. A cross-heading.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The progress made by a ship in motion; hence, progress or success of any kind.
- n. (Arch.) Clear space under an arch, girder, and the like, sufficient to allow of easy passing underneath; clearance; headroom.
WordNet 3.0
- n. forward movement
- n. vertical space available to allow easy passage under something
Etymologies
- Partly from Middle English headway, from Old English hēafodweġ ("head-road, main-road"), equivalent to head- + way; partly as a shortening of ahead-way, the source of the nautical sense. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Actually, while it seems counterintuitive, frequent headway is critical to changing behavior on a more permanent basis.”
“So, in fact, any American gays serving in the U.S. military, knowing what would happen to them if our side lost, would be more loyal, more patriotic and more mission-focused, because while some headway is being made against homophobia in the United States, none is occurring in many of these backward Islamic religious fundamentalist ultra-orthodox societies, where gays are treated even more horribly than women even tend to be.”
Think Progress » Fox News Military Analyst Endorses DADT Repeal, Criticizes McCain For Flip-Flopping
“More photos and interactive graphics Mr. Serra's loss of headway is the result of a renewed emphasis in the election on Brazil's economic boom and the consequent popularity of departing two-term President Luiz In á cio Lula da Silva, who picked Ms. Rousseff to succeed him as the leftist Workers Party candidate.”
“One debate per week amounts to 2 things for McCain: (1) free air time, as his campaign can't compete with Obama's finacially, and (2) to tie up Obama's campaign schedule, making it harder for him to gain headway in key battleground states.”
“If you want to make long-term headway in American politics, defence is a long-term hold.”
John Terry’s sacking as England captain tells us something interesting...
“Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid can talk about nebulous ideas of common sense economics and a strong global image, but the only way to even get to the table and make headway is for the Democrats to win back control of the House and Senate and then start putting their plans into action.”
“You feel happy as long as headway is being made, but as soon as you are obstructed or your individuality and freedom of action are restricted, you experience an intense nervous reaction.”
“These days I feel like we are finally making "headway" - getting our lives back on track.”
“ROBERTS: They are making headway, which is a good thing.”
“Monster Yuppy and Barnes amongst others touch on one of the real deal breakers with making any kind of headway on health and fitness.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘headway’.
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WF - nominal compounds (figurative)
An extensive list I have been working on for quite some time. Feel free to add more of the kind if you miss any.
brainstorming, upside, downside, goldplating, bikeshedding, mudslinging, downgrading, headhunter, streamlining, mainstreaming, gerrymandering, frontloading and 503 more...
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POL - cool compounds
scaremongering, facelifting, mudslinging, gerrymandering, goldplating, muscleflexing, headway, pinpointing, hobby-horse, barnstorming, grandfathering, finger-wagging and 31 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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Learned words
Words which are highly likely to be found in the work of learned writers.
ailurophile, labyrinthine, lagniappe, colleague, anechoic, reglets, fluctuations, scalar, implicit, constitute, mortification, ambassadors and 629 more...
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What Keeps Your Ears Apart?
A sort of stuffie of words/phrases that include "head"
head of cattle, out of one's head, head of the stairs, come to a head, head of steam, head of the page, win by a head, head taller, headway, fountainhead, heads or tails, hit the nail on t... and 143 more...
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Watchmen (2009)
Words from 2009 'Watchmen' film.
adversary, certitude, deterrent, stockpile, posturing, minuteman, vigilante, toss, flip, spook, carcass, tread and 174 more...
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space
plenum, exergue, ramage, berth, lacuna, swath, hollow, gap, expanse, between, margin, spandrel and 88 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for headway.
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