'In the family way' definitions:

Definition of 'In the family way'

From: GCIDE
  • Way \Way\, n. [OE. wey, way, AS. weg; akin to OS., D., OHG., & G. weg, Icel. vegr, Sw. v[aum]g, Dan. vei, Goth. wigs, L. via, and AS. wegan to move, L. vehere to carry, Skr. vah. [root]136. Cf. Convex, Inveigh, Vehicle, Vex, Via, Voyage, Wag, Wagon, Wee, Weigh.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. That by, upon, or along, which one passes or processes; opportunity or room to pass; place of passing; passage; road, street, track, or path of any kind; as, they built a way to the mine. "To find the way to heaven." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • I shall him seek by way and eke by street. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • The way seems difficult, and steep to scale. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • The season and ways were very improper for his majesty's forces to march so great a distance. --Evelyn. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Length of space; distance; interval; as, a great way; a long way. [1913 Webster]
  • And whenever the way seemed long, Or his heart began to fail. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. A moving; passage; procession; journey. [1913 Webster]
  • I prythee, now, lead the way. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Course or direction of motion or process; tendency of action; advance. [1913 Webster]
  • If that way be your walk, you have not far. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • And let eternal justice take the way. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. The means by which anything is reached, or anything is accomplished; scheme; device; plan. [1913 Webster]
  • My best way is to creep under his gaberdine. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • By noble ways we conquest will prepare. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • What impious ways my wishes took! --Prior. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Manner; method; mode; fashion; style; as, the way of expressing one's ideas. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. Regular course; habitual method of life or action; plan of conduct; mode of dealing. "Having lost the way of nobleness." --Sir. P. Sidney. [1913 Webster]
  • Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. --Prov. iii. 17. [1913 Webster]
  • When men lived in a grander way. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. Sphere or scope of observation. --Jer. Taylor. [1913 Webster]
  • The public ministers that fell in my way. --Sir W. Temple. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. Determined course; resolved mode of action or conduct; as, to have one's way. [1913 Webster]
  • 10. (Naut.) (a) Progress; as, a ship has way. (b) pl. The timbers on which a ship is launched. [1913 Webster]
  • 11. pl. (Mach.) The longitudinal guides, or guiding surfaces, on the bed of a planer, lathe, or the like, along which a table or carriage moves. [1913 Webster]
  • 12. (Law) Right of way. See below. [1913 Webster]
  • By the way, in passing; apropos; aside; apart from, though connected with, the main object or subject of discourse.
  • By way of, for the purpose of; as being; in character of.
  • Covert way. (Fort.) See Covered way, under Covered.
  • In the family way. See under Family.
  • In the way, so as to meet, fall in with, obstruct, hinder, etc.
  • In the way with, traveling or going with; meeting or being with; in the presence of.
  • Milky way. (Astron.) See Galaxy, 1.
  • No way, No ways. See Noway, Noways, in the Vocabulary.
  • On the way, traveling or going; hence, in process; advancing toward completion; as, on the way to this country; on the way to success.
  • Out of the way. See under Out.
  • Right of way (Law), a right of private passage over another's ground. It may arise either by grant or prescription. It may be attached to a house, entry, gate, well, or city lot, as well as to a country farm. --Kent.
  • To be under way, or To have way (Naut.), to be in motion, as when a ship begins to move.
  • To give way. See under Give.
  • To go one's way, or To come one's way, to go or come; to depart or come along. --Shak.
  • To go one's way to proceed in a manner favorable to one; -- of events.
  • To come one's way to come into one's possession (of objects) or to become available, as an opportunity; as, good things will come your way.
  • To go the way of all the earth or
  • to go the way of all flesh to die.
  • To make one's way, to advance in life by one's personal efforts.
  • To make way. See under Make, v. t.
  • Ways and means. (a) Methods; resources; facilities. (b) (Legislation) Means for raising money; resources for revenue.
  • Way leave, permission to cross, or a right of way across, land; also, rent paid for such right. [Eng]
  • Way of the cross (Eccl.), the course taken in visiting in rotation the stations of the cross. See Station, n., 7 (c) .
  • Way of the rounds (Fort.), a space left for the passage of the rounds between a rampart and the wall of a fortified town.
  • Way pane, a pane for cartage in irrigated land. See Pane, n., 4. [Prov. Eng.]
  • Way passenger, a passenger taken up, or set down, at some intermediate place between the principal stations on a line of travel.
  • Ways of God, his providential government, or his works.
  • Way station, an intermediate station between principal stations on a line of travel, especially on a railroad.
  • Way train, a train which stops at the intermediate, or way, stations; an accommodation train.
  • Way warden, the surveyor of a road. [1913 Webster]
  • Syn: Street; highway; road.
  • Usage: Way, Street, Highway, Road. Way is generic, denoting any line for passage or conveyance; a highway is literally one raised for the sake of dryness and convenience in traveling; a road is, strictly, a way for horses and carriages; a street is, etymologically, a paved way, as early made in towns and cities; and, hence, the word is distinctively applied to roads or highways in compact settlements. [1913 Webster]
  • All keep the broad highway, and take delight With many rather for to go astray. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • There is but one road by which to climb up. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • When night Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'In the family way'

From: GCIDE
  • Family \Fam"i*ly\, n.; pl. Families. [L. familia, fr. famulus servant; akin to Oscan famel servant, cf. faamat he dwells, Skr. dh[=a]man house, fr. dh[=a]to set, make, do: cf. F. famille. Cf. Do, v. t., Doom, Fact, Feat.]
  • 1. The collective body of persons who live in one house, and under one head or manager; a household, including parents, children, and servants, and, as the case may be, lodgers or boarders. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. The group comprising a husband and wife and their dependent children, constituting a fundamental unit in the organization of society. [1913 Webster]
  • The welfare of the family underlies the welfare of society. --H. Spencer. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Those who descend from one common progenitor; a tribe, clan, or race; kindred; house; as, the human family; the family of Abraham; the father of a family. [1913 Webster]
  • Go ! and pretend your family is young. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Course of descent; genealogy; line of ancestors; lineage. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Honorable descent; noble or respectable stock; as, a man of family. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. A group of kindred or closely related individuals; as, a family of languages; a family of States; the chlorine family. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. (Biol.) A group of organisms, either animal or vegetable, related by certain points of resemblance in structure or development, more comprehensive than a genus, because it is usually based on fewer or less pronounced points of likeness. In Zoology a family is less comprehesive than an order; in botany it is often considered the same thing as an order. [1913 Webster]
  • Family circle. See under Circle.
  • Family man. (a) A man who has a family; esp., one who has a wife and children living with him and dependent upon him. (b) A man of domestic habits. "The Jews are generally, when married, most exemplary family men." --Mayhew.
  • Family of curves or Family of surfaces (Geom.), a group of curves or surfaces derived from a single equation.
  • In a family way, like one belonging to the family. "Why don't we ask him and his ladies to come over in a family way, and dine with some other plain country gentlefolks?" --Thackeray.
  • In the family way, pregnant. [Colloq. euphemism] [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'In the family way'