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.
Burnham was cleared on Friday to stand in the by-election by Labour's ruling National Executive Committee, after the constituency's current MP said he would vacate it to make way for the Manchester mayor.
From BBC • May 16, 2026
His eyes look slightly upward, as if casting an appreciative glance at the library that stood across the avenue until its controversial demolition to make way for the Frick mansion in 1912.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
The block is about to be demolished to make way for a gleaming new residential complex, and the mosaic is to be torn down.
From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026
Marshall’s plans to demolish a former youth hostel built during the Art Deco period to make way for a sports field was blocked by the Historic Preservation Board, which mandated he preserve the building’s facade.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
The crowd parted to make way for a group of firefighters, their bronze helmets glinting like the regalia of knights.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
