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.
Khan adds that operational fixes are under way, but that “performance returning to normal conditions is expected to take 9-12 months,” keeping the near-term outlook muted.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
McLaren's race began to unravel even before the action got under way.
From BBC • May 24, 2026
More than 100 people are said to have been taken to hospital, with rescue work at the site still under way.
From BBC • May 23, 2026
But these are just the latest moves in a sustained rise in yields that has been under way since long-term interest rates bottomed at historic lows in 2020, during the worst of the Covid pandemic.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
In astronomy, this process really gets under way with Tycho Brahe; in physics, with Pascal.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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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.