noun
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A chain of nerve fibers along which impulses normally travel.
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A sequence of enzymatic or other reactions by which one biological material is converted to another.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pathway
Explanation
A pathway is a trail or other walkway. Hikers often follow a well-worn pathway as they walk through the woods. Use the noun pathway to mean a walk, path, or trail — any marked way that's meant or used for walking. The pathway you follow on your way to school might lead you over a stream and through a field, or it might meander down a narrow city alley. Pathway is essentially a longer, redundant way to say "path," and in fact it comes from path and its Old English root pæþ, "path or track," which has a Germanic origin.
Vocabulary lists containing pathway
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On Jan. 1, a new state law cleared the legal pathway for oversight bodies such as the Civilian Oversight Commission to review law enforcement agencies’ confidential personnel records in closed session.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
That raises the possibility that treatments targeting this pathway could make those areas more vulnerable.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026
It did this by preventing the protein from being broken down through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 5, 2026
According to rock expert Dr George Nash, from Liverpool University, the opportunities presented by this pathway would have been too good for hunter gatherers to ignore.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
A little way off, beyond a line of scattered juniper-trees, which marked the pathway to the church, a white, dim figure flitted in the direction of the tomb.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
Mr. Buck suggests ending this “master’s premium” and expanding other teacher certification pathways.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
The research team had previously shown that drugs known as BET bromodomain inhibitors can interfere with pathways that allow prostate cancer cells to activate alternative identity programs.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026
National advocacy groups are campaigning for policies that would strengthen the long-term workforce - including ones that "would expand legal pathways for international caregivers".
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Transfer pathways, he added, “will remain essential, and CSU and UC will always be the backbone of baccalaureate education in California.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
They go along their own pathways, moving easily through thick tangles of thorny undergrowth.
From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
