headway

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   progress toward a goal, especially after effort or difficulty

   Negotiators finally made headway on the most disputed part of the agreement.

2. 2
   noun

   forward movement, especially of a ship against wind or current

   The small boat made little headway against the rising tide.

3. 3
   noun

   the time or distance between vehicles traveling the same route

   The transit agency reduced train headway to five minutes during rush hour.

Partly from Middle English and Old English forms meaning a main road, and partly from ahead-way, 'movement ahead.' The nautical sense of forward motion developed first; the familiar figurative sense of making progress followed.

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