underway
adverbnounattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ʌndəˈweɪ//
- United States//ʌndəɹˈweɪ//
- //ˈʌndə(ɹ)weɪ//
In motion, in progress; being done or carried out; on a journey.
adverb
- 1
In motion, in progress; being done or carried out; on a journey.
The next wave, well underway, is shipping back-office business tasks overseas, ...
The political world might still be recovering from the 2016 presidential election and focusing now on the midterm fights for Congress, but here in the nation's first primary state the battle for 2020 is already well underway.
Etymology
Calque of Dutch onderweg (“underway”), equivalent to under- + way. Compare also German unterwegs.
noun
- 1
A road, track, path, or street for going under another way or obstacle; an underpass.
As Minneapolis grew, the city demanded that M&StL construct "underways" beneath city roadways.
- 2
An underground passage, subway, tunnel.
There are in fact many such subterranean underways in Germany, speeding traffic beneath bergs, burgs and villages and into and around and under big city downtowns ...
- 3
A voyage, especially underwater.
I had been the diving officer on three previous submarines, …, and was an experienced officer of the deck with many underways and landings under my belt on all three.
Etymology
From under + way.
Forms
- plural
- underways
- comparative
- more underway
- superlative
- most underway
underway · In motion, in progress; being done or carried out; on a journey.
underwear · Clothes worn next to the skin, underneath outer clothing.underwood · Underbrush, undergrowth.Underwood · A typewriter made by the Underwood Typewriter Company.