runway
[ruhn-wey]
- a way along which something runs.
- a paved or cleared strip on which planes land and take off.
- a similar strip on which cars, trucks, or the like may park, load, or enter the stream of traffic.
- the beaten track or habitual path of deer or other wild animals.
- a fairly large enclosure in which domestic animals may range about: a runway for dogs.
- the bed of a stream.
- Bowling. approach(def 17b).
- a narrow platform or ramp extending from a stage into the orchestra pit or into an aisle, as in a theater.
Origin of runway
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for runway
Contemporary Examples
As they passed the runway, bullets shot up from the tall grass, puncturing a fuel tank.
I walked across the runway to the large hangar we were housed in.
Twice in the past two weeks, this has entailed meeting a plane on the runway to retriever sick passengers who may be infected.
That was when I started getting couture, kind of from the other side of the runway.
Trying to do it in a reusable rocket, landing on a runway, that system has a very bad track record.
Historical Examples
A dark form hurtled down the runway and lifted like a flash.
A Yankee Flier Over BerlinAl Avery
"I'm afraid I forgot all about your cameras when I came in over the runway," Stan replied.
A Yankee Flier Over BerlinAl Avery
As he laid over he saw the withering fire on the runway lift.
A Yankee Flier Over BerlinAl Avery
The runway was raised to successive horizontals as the work progressed.
Concrete ConstructionHalbert P. Gillette
"Here's the runway and this here hazel bush is my station," he said.
The Flaming JewelRobert W. Chambers
runway
- a hard level roadway or other surface from which aircraft take off and on which they land
- an enclosure for domestic animals; run
- forestry, US and Canadian a chute for sliding logs down
- a narrow ramp extending from the stage into the audience in a theatre, nightclub, etc, esp as used by models in a fashion show
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for runway
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper