one's way

phrase

Used to express a physical movement performed by the subject (especially in a forward direction).

“to force one's way in”

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

phrase
  1. Preceded by a verb and followed by an adverbial prepositional phrase to express a successfully completed action in a literal or figurative space, where the verb denotes the means or manner of the action, while the prepositional phrase specifies the direction or goal of the action:
    1. Used to express a physical movement performed by the subject (especially in a forward direction).

      to force one's way in

      5 more examples

      If necessary, I'll bull my way into the reception.

      We had to slog our way through muddy fields.

      She joked her way into the meeting.

      They stumbled their way to the back of the room.

      After geting out of the boat, he smoked all his way towards us.

    2. figurativelyUsed to express an advance or progress made by the subject.

      to fight one's way into the final

      5 more examples

      He finagled his way out of the difficulty.

      We lied our way through the debriefing.

      We grew our way out of the recession.

      Even four-time major champion Rory McIlroy, who played his way into Saturday's final pairing with Spieth, only to implode spectacularly with an adventure-filled 77 that included not a single birdie, remains in contention, thanks to Spieth's unexpected generosity on the day's final two holes.

      2016 April 9, Dave Sheinin, “Jordan Spieth falters down the stretch but still leads the Masters through 54 holes”, in The Washington Post

      Every month, a different delivery arrived with ingredients for the next Zoom event. There was pizza-making night, which resembled a seven-year-old’s party – but who was I to judge as they laughed their way through pixelated dough-kneading when I got a pizza out of it?

      2020 September 12, Abigail Radnor, Peter Bradshaw, Alex Clark, quoting Abigail Radnor, “'He charms for a living': what dual home working reveals about your partner”, in The Guardian
Cite this entry
APA

one's way. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one's%20way

MLA

“one's way.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one's%20way. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “one's way,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one's%20way.

Source: one's way on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.