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under way

 
or un·der·way (ŭn'dər-wā')
adv. & adj.
  1. In motion or operation.
  2. Already commenced or initiated; in progress.
  3. Nautical. Neither anchored nor moored to a fixed object.

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There is a choice between under way and underway, with the two-word form still marginally preferable although the other is equally well attested:
I started up the bagpipes and was soon under way, marching up and down the church hall—B. Millin, 1991
The foot-and-mouth outbreak led to the suspension of the testing programme that was underway to try to monitor and contain TB—farming website, British English 2002 [Old English (up to 1150)C].
The reworking of the phrase as under weigh, which arose from associations of ships weighing anchor and setting sail, was common in 19th century writers (including Byron, Marryat, and Thackeray) but has largely disappeared since the nautical connection is irrelevant to most contexts.

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1.  In motion, as in The ship got under way at noon. [c. 1930]
2.  Already started, in progress, as in Plans are under way to expand. [c. 1930]

Translations:

Underway

Top

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - på vej

Français (French)
adj. - en route, en cours (des répétitions)

Deutsch (German)
adj. - in Fahrt

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - εν εξελίξει

Italiano (Italian)
in corso

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - em caminho

Русский (Russian)
двигающийся, в процессе разработки или реализации

Español (Spanish)
adj. - (hecho) en camino, (hecho) en movimiento

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - på väg

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
起步的, 航行中的, 进行中的

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 起步的, 航行中的, 進行中的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 여행중인, 항해중인

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 旅行中の

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮בתהליך‬


 
 

 

Copyrights:

American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
 Fowler's Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press. © 1999, 2004 All rights reserved.  Read more
American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

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