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Definition 2024
right_of_way
right of way
See also: right-of-way
English
Noun
right of way (countable and uncountable, plural rights of way or right of ways)
- (uncountable) The right to proceed first in traffic, on land, on water or in the air. Also in metaphorical senses.
- 1994, Di Goodman and Ian Brodie, Learning to Sail, ISBN 0070240140, page 86:
- Even when you have the right of way, you must take action to avoid a collision if another boat fails to give way.
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- (countable) A legal right of passage over another's land or pathways.
- (countable) A legal easement granted for the construction of a roadway or railway.
- (countable) Land on which a right of way exists.
- 1970, Diana L. Reische, Problems of Mass Transportation, ISBN 0824204131, page 143:
- New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans a rail line on an unused right of way of the Long Island Rail Road between JFK and Penn Station to whisk passengers to midtown Manhattan in twenty minutes.
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- (countable) The area modified for passage of a railway; often specifically the railbed and tracks.
- 2006, Jane Bloodworth Rowe, “Ferrell Parkway”, in Echoes from the Poisoned Well: Global Memories of Environmental Injustice, ISBN 0739114328, page 187:
- Mayne, speaking at the 1999 meeting, ranked the trees along the right-of-way as "old growth" or "rare," although she never defined these terms.
- (fencing, uncountable) The priority granted to the first person to properly execute an attack.
- 2002, Elaine Cheris, Fencing: Steps to Success, ISBN 087322972X, page 63:
- In foil the important thing is to be sure you have the right of way. You gain right of way by starting the attack first or beating the blade last.
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Translations
right to proceed first in traffic
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legal right of passage
legal easement granted for the construction of a roadway or railway
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land on which a right of way exists
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area modified for passage of a railway
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Usage notes
- The plural "rights of way" can be used for all senses. The alternative plural "right of ways" is generally used only when referring to an easement or a physical stretch of land, and may be regarded as an error.
- In sense 1 the phrase is often used without a preceding article; e.g. to have right of way.
Alternative forms
See also
- Right-of-way on Wikipedia.Wikipedia