headway1

[hed-wey] /ˈhɛdˌweɪ/
noun
1.
forward movement; progress in a forward direction:
The ship's headway was slowed by the storm.
2.
progress in general:
headway in a career.
3.
rate of progress:
a slight headway against concerted opposition.
4.
the time interval or distance between two vehicles, as automobiles, ships, or railroad or subway cars, traveling in the same direction over the same route.
Idioms
5.
make headway, to proceed forward; advance; progress.
Origin
1700-10; (a)head + way

headway2

[hed-wey] /ˈhɛdˌweɪ/
noun
1.
headroom (def 2).
Origin
1700-10; head + way
Examples from the web for headway
  • The firemen complained that fires at night gained too much headway while the police slept.
  • It didn't make much headway, but opened the door to new ideas about how space and time might emerge from deeper physics.
  • Some headway in simplifying the proliferations of formats and identifiers has been made, but more work is required.
  • If one of the pair crosses the horizon, it can make no headway and so becomes trapped.
  • In short, he describes how scientists are making headway on solving the riddle of the glial cells.
  • The two sides have apparently made little headway since the end of the regular season.
  • In the week ahead, make admirable headway without churning up or slinging any mud.
  • Employees feel engaged when they make headway toward objectives.
  • By being resourceful and quick on the uptake, you will make headway in the week ahead.
  • But now the technology finally seems to be making headway.
British Dictionary definitions for headway

headroom

/ˈhɛdˌrʊm; -ˌruːm/
noun
1.
the height of a bridge, room, etc; clearance

headway

/ˈhɛdˌweɪ/
noun
1.
motion in a forward direction: the vessel made no headway
2.
progress or rate of progress: he made no headway with the problem
3.
another name for headroom
4.
the distance or time between consecutive trains, buses, etc, on the same route
Word Origin and History for headway
n.

c.1300, "main road, highway," from Old English heafodweg (see head (adj.) + way). Sense of "motion forward" first attested 1748, short for ahead-way; ultimately nautical (cf. leeway).

Idioms and Phrases with headway

headway

see: make headway