make way
Idioms-
Allow room for passage, move aside, as in Please make way for the wheelchair . This expression was first recorded about 1200.
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Also, make way for . Leave room for a successor or substitute, as in It's time he retired and made way for some younger professor . [Mid-1700s]
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Progress, advance, as in Is this enterprise making way? [Late 1500s] For a synonym, see make headway .
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.
Miliband resigned to make way for Jeremy Corbyn, who led the party from 2015 to 2020, when Sir Keir took over as party leader in opposition.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Authorities in Vietnam's capital have been on a demolition blitz, knocking down thousands of homes to make way for bridges and other infrastructure projects as part of a 100-year master plan approved last month.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
Now, many local leaders want to see them bulldozed to make way for new, denser housing—igniting an outcry on the edge of unbroken wilderness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
Some investors are now cutting exposure to other areas to make way for looming mega-scaled IPOs from SpaceX and OpenAI, he added.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
Puff Daddy and Mase poured from the stereo, the bass thumping so loud she could feel it in her throat, then faded back to make way for Notorious B.I.G.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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.
