under way
prepositional phrase
under way is a prepositional phrase meaning “In operation, in progress, commenced” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled U-N-D-E-R-W-A-Y.
What does under way mean?
prepositional phrase
- 1
In operation, in progress, commenced.
- 2
Moving through the water; not anchored, moored, aground, or beached.
- 3
Into motion, into its course.
The show finally got under way, just 10 minutes late.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce under way?
- Australia
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-under_way.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of under way
- underway
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Words people confuse with under way
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: underway (one word or two).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Under way in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | en cours , avec erre |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.