runway

[ruhn-wey] /ˈrʌnˌweɪ/
noun
1.
a way along which something runs.
2.
a paved or cleared strip on which planes land and take off.
3.
a similar strip on which cars, trucks, or the like may park, load, or enter the stream of traffic.
4.
the beaten track or habitual path of deer or other wild animals.
5.
a fairly large enclosure in which domestic animals may range about:
a runway for dogs.
6.
the bed of a stream.
7.
Bowling. approach (def 16b).
8.
a narrow platform or ramp extending from a stage into the orchestra pit or into an aisle, as in a theater.
Origin
1825-35, Americanism; run + way1
Examples from the web for runway
  • She tore down the runway toward him with open arms, her spirits-and feet-flying.
  • To me, the moment when the customer actually throws the frock on in the fitting room is much more exciting than the runway moment.
  • Imagine driving a continuous supply of cars down a long runway off a cliff for a million years.
  • But biofuels have a runway to viability of only a few years.
  • They do not attempt the six-inch heels they routinely send down the runway.
  • It was a week before the runway show of his fall collection, his third as a designer.
  • On the runway, inspired feats of virtuosity are all too often quickly forgotten by blasé audiences rushing to the next show.
  • As the plane closes in on the runway, the view is one of unbroken forest extending to the distant horizon.
  • The smaller aircraft flew down the length of the runway while the pilot of the larger one pulled back the stick and climbed.
  • The runway may be intact, but the control tower lost communications after the quake.
British Dictionary definitions for runway

runway

/ˈrʌnˌweɪ/
noun
1.
a hard level roadway or other surface from which aircraft take off and on which they land
2.
an enclosure for domestic animals; run
3.
(forestry, US & Canadian) a chute for sliding logs down
4.
a narrow ramp extending from the stage into the audience in a theatre, nightclub, etc, esp as used by models in a fashion show
Word Origin and History for runway
n.

"customary track of an animal," especially a deer, 1833, American English, from run (v.) + way. Meaning "artificial sloping track" is attested from 1883; airfield sense is from 1923.