path

plural paths

1. A trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians.

   Yet ere to to-morrow's ſun ſhall ſhew his head, / The dewy paths of meadows we will tread, / For crowns and chaplets to adorn thy head.

   a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The Epithalamium of Helen and Menelaus. From the 18th Idyllium of Theocritus.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume II, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 412

   1 more example

   I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

   Synonyms: track

2. A course taken.

   the path of a meteor, of a caravan, or of a storm

   1 more example

   Just before Warwick reached Liberty Point, a young woman came down Front Street from the direction of the market-house. When their paths converged, Warwick kept on down Front Street behind her, it having been already his intention to walk in this direction.

   1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC

3. A metaphorical course or route; progress.

   ⁠But thou and I have shaken hands, ⁠Till growing winters lay me low; ⁠My paths are in the fields I know, And thine in undiscover’d lands.

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXIX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 61

   1 more example

   As I explored the possibility of a library science path, having previously been employed in libraries during my school career and afterwards, I decided that I needed to actually experience work in a library setting full time again […]

   2002, Priscilla K. Shontz, Steven J. Oberg, Jump Start Your Career in Library and Information Science, page 21

4. A method or direction of proceeding.

   The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

   1750 June 12 (date written; published 1751), T[homas] Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”, in Designs by Mr. R[ichard] Bentley, for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley, […], published 1753, →OCLC

   1 more example

   All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 25:10

5. lifestyleA Pagan tradition, for example witchcraft, Wicca, druidism, Heathenry.
6. computingA human-readable specification for a location within a hierarchical or tree-like structure, such as a file system or as part of a URL.

   Use the network path \\Marketing\Files to find the documents you need.

7. graph theoryA sequence of vertices from one vertex to another using the arcs (edges). A path does not visit the same vertex more than once (unless it is a closed path, where only the first and the last vertex are the same).
8. mathematicsA continuous map f from the unit interval I=[0,1] to a topological space X.
9. rail transportA slot available for allocation to a railway train over a given route in between other trains.

   ... while the planned hourly fast 'Connect' service from Middlesbrough to Newcastle has been postponed indefinitely due to problems in finding paths for it on the East Coast main line.

   2019 October, James Abbott, “Esk Valley revival: December 2019 changes”, in Modern Railways, page 78

   2 more examples

   "Permissive" working allows more than one train to be in a block section at one time but trains must be run at low speed in order to stop on sight behind the train in front. Such working is often authorised to allow freight trains to "bunch" together to await a path through a bottleneck instead of being strung out over several block sections, as would be necessary if absolute working were in force.

   1962 October, “Talking of Trains: The collisions at Connington”, in Modern Railways, page 232

   Echoing McNaughton's comments in 2009, it adds: "The WCML has exhausted its available train paths and no extra services could be run without further significant investment to enhance current infrastructure or build a new line.

   2020 May 6, Philip Haigh, “Just one more stop on the long journey to HS2 fulfillment [sic]”, in Rail, page 65

present singular third person paths · participle present pathing · participle past pathed · past pathed

1. transitiveTo make a path in, or on (something), or for (someone).

   His ghoſtly counſells onely doe aduiſe, / The meanes hovv Langlies progenie may riſe, / Pathing young Henries vnaduiſed vvaies, / A Duke of Yorke from Cambridge houſe to raiſe, […]

   1597, Michaell [i.e., Michael] Drayton, “Duke Humfrey to Elinor Cobham”, in Englands Heroicall Epistles, London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] Ling, […], →OCLC, folio 56, verso

2. intransitivecomputingTo navigate through a file system directory tree (to a desired file or folder).

   Next, you need to path to the location of the executable and run it from there.

3. intransitivevideo gamesTo pathfind.

1. abbreviationuncountablemedicinePathology.