both ways

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adjective, adverb

another term for each way

have it both ways (usually with a negative) to try to get the best of a situation, argument, etc, by chopping and changing between alternatives or opposites

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby both ways

bother, botheration, bother, bothered, bothersome, Bothnia, both ways, Bothwell, bothy, bothy ballad, Botkin, botnet

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

How to use both ways in a sentence

He wants it both ways: he wants to stay alive but without hurting anyone.
Andrew Lincoln Wants Rick to End With Johnny Cash and the Sunset|Melissa Leon|October 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“It cuts both ways,” says a Republican consultant involved in the Arkansas elections.
The Wall Street Money Men Behind a Right-Wing Star|Patricia Murphy|September 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Power flows both ways, and people are complex in Happy Valley.
The Feminist Aesthetic of ‘Happy Valley’: A Refusal to Eroticize Violence Against Women|Batya Ungar-Sargon|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is most commonly applied to informants who want to have the thing both ways.
U.S. Visas Helped Fuel the Juárez Drug Wars|Jason McGahan|July 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Few are more capable of having the best of everything both ways.
Churchill Would Be Famous Today on the Strength of His Writing Alone|Anthony Paletta|June 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The messenger looked both ways and finally turned up that sidewalk between the two tenements.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
Either by physic forward or by clyster backward or both ways to get an easy and plentiful going to stool and breaking of wind.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete|Samuel Pepys
The two boys was squatting back to back behind the pile, so they could watch both ways.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
All the lower berths going both ways are reserved two weeks ahead.
The Affable Stranger|Peter McArthur
Bart and Mort tried both ways and like the climb better, though Kansas Jim would never take it.
Two Boys in Wyoming|Edward S. Ellis