headway

noun

head·​way ˈhed-ˌwā 

1

a

: motion or rate of motion in a forward direction

b

: advance, progress

2

: headroom (as under an arch) sufficient to allow passage

3

: the time interval between two vehicles traveling in the same direction on the same route

Synonyms

• progress
• advance
• process
• advancement
• progression
• procession

Examples of headway in a Sentence

the ant was making little headway carrying a crumb that was about five times his size

Recent Examples on the Web

The White House was able to make some headway in the early months, such as convincing Israel to open up the Israeli port of Ashdod to allow in flour shipments as well as the Kerem Shalom border crossing for humanitarian aid trucks. —Tom Bowman, NPR, 28 Aug. 2025

Realistically, none of us expected much headway in the BTA until these contentious issues were resolved. —Mayu Saini, Sourcing Journal, 19 Aug. 2025

Though Trump appeared to make concessions in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, European officials viewed his openness to a US security guarantee as a positive and hoped to make further headway during talks in Washington today. —Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 18 Aug. 2025

Even platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, a modern cosmetic technique of using a patient’s blood to stimulate collagen and cell renewal, demonstrates that blood might make groundbreaking headway in anti-aging. —Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 11 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1730, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing headway

• make headway

Rhymes for headway

• airway
• allay
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway
• beret

Kids Definition

headway

noun

head·​way -ˌwā 

1

: motion forward

2

: progress entry 1 sense 2