headway

noun

head·​way ˈhed-ˌwā How to pronounce headway (audio)
1
a
: motion or rate of motion in a forward direction
2
: headroom (as under an arch) sufficient to allow passage
3
: the time interval between two vehicles traveling in the same direction on the same route

Examples of headway in a Sentence

the ant was making little headway carrying a crumb that was about five times his size
Recent Examples on the Web But right now, the intent is to really go after the ByteDance-TikTok dynamic and make some headway there. Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 7 Mar. 2024 The declines in these areas for those who abstained from using were more striking, but fewer were able to make that leap, and many others didn't make any headway. Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2024 Several critics of the new effort say the city won’t make real headway until its leaders deal with the root causes of addiction, including a shortage of affordable housing and effective treatment options and a faltering social safety net. Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2024 Right now, women are making the most headway in C-suite positions that typically don’t require critical profit-and-loss oversight. Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 21 Feb. 2024 Pittsburgh is just 5-6-3 since Jan. 1 while failing to make any headway toward a postseason berth that used to be a matter of course for Sidney Crosby and company. Will Graves, USA TODAY, 15 Feb. 2024 Despite the financial losses the company experienced, some headway was made as UPS worked to return customers who had previously transferred their business to other shippers such as FedEx and USPS during the union negotiations. Olivia Evans, The Courier-Journal, 30 Jan. 2024 The federal government made some headway toward mitigating that issue last week, announcing $623 million in funding earmarked for battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell charging stations. Kristin Shaw, Popular Science, 17 Jan. 2024 The central bank has made notable headway in bringing down wayward inflation since starting to raise rates aggressively nearly two years ago. Krystal Hur, CNN, 15 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'headway.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1730, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of headway was in 1730

Dictionary Entries Near headway

Cite this Entry

“Headway.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/headway. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

headway

noun
head·​way -ˌwā How to pronounce headway (audio)
1
: motion forward
2

More from Merriam-Webster on headway

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