underˈway, adv.
[The phr. under way s.v. way n.1 38 taken as one word.]
a. Naut. Of a vessel: under way; having begun to move through the water.
| 1934 W. Nelson Seaplane Design vi. 67 The depth of the step affects..the moment to change trim when underway near the planing speed. 1940 P. V. H. Weems Marine Navigation (1941) v. 82 Before getting underway the navigator should determine by azimuth or by a known true bearing of a prominent object whether any error exists in the compass reading. 1978 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) Boating Suppl. 26 Nov. 16/6 Technically a vessel is underway when not moored, at anchor or aground. |
b. transf. Of a process, project, activity, etc.: having begun, in progress, being done or carried out. Of a person: having started doing something.
| 1935 Sci. Amer. Apr., 198/1 Uncle Sam now has underway one of his greatest construction projects. 1950 Chem. Engin. Progress XLVI. 112/1 Construction should be underway by 1952. 1955 [see program, programme n. 2 b]. 1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 23 Once underway, though, Gloria would have been able to detect few noteworthy points of contrast between sexual arousal and rabies. 1976 New Scientist 16 Dec. 660/2 Experiments..with an electro-optically q-switched neodymium-glass laser are underway. 1981 W. Boyd Good Man in Africa ii. ix. 124 They walked arm-in-arm into the club where the dance was underway. |