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:
By identifying a biological pathway that directly regulates this inflammation, the new findings suggest that future therapies could potentially target liver inflammation alongside existing treatments focused on weight and liver fat.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
While such a pathway is not Iran’s official policy, it nonetheless seems like a plausible outcome.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
"University is not the only pathway," Meenu says, "even if maybe you think it's the most conventional or it is what your family want you to do."
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The protests have focused on allegations of cheating and corruption in the fiercely competitive exams for government jobs and university places that are a key pathway for upward mobility in India.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
He let his weight rest against his rake as she began dragging the statue toward an oval bed of myrtle, beside the lamppost that flanked the brick pathway.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Their immune cells also showed much more genetic activity associated with inflammatory pathways.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
The findings raise the possibility that hormonal pathways could help explain some of the previously observed relationship between coffee consumption and metabolic health.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
Bill Lay, the owner of five restaurants in Key West, supports legal pathways for foreign workers, but believes current immigration laws should be respected.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
They also highlighted immense pressures on students in India, the world's most populous nation where admission to government-run colleges remains one of the most sought-after pathways to economic security.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
As we followed the southward curve of Lake Shore Drive, passing bicyclists and runners on the pedestrian pathways, I was arguing silently with myself.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
