Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Way \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.