under way
Americanadjective
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Also (of a ship) no longer in port, at anchor, etc.; moving.
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no longer at rest, stationary, etc.; in motion; traveling.
We'll put our bags in the car and be under way.
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proceeding; in progress.
Plans are under way to sell the company.
adjective
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in progress; in operation
the show was under way
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nautical in motion
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In motion, as in The ship got under way at noon . [c. 1930]
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Already started, in progress, as in Plans are under way to expand . [c. 1930]
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.
Talks have been under way for weeks between Tehran and Washington via mediators, with both sides swapping and rejecting the other’s proposals.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026
The May employment report, due Friday, will offer more clues on whether a broad rebound in hiring is under way — or whether the labor market is just treading water.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 4, 2026
The great wealth transfer might be on hold, but the great wealth trickle is well under way.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
The upheaval at the news organisation had been under way since August 2025 when David Ellison, an ally of US President Donald Trump, bought CBS's parent company, Paramount.
From BBC • Jun. 3, 2026
After the reconstituted S-l committee finally got atomic bomb planning under way, its members met at the exclusive Bohemian Grove in California in September 1942, with Lawrence as host.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
