ways

9.9

A sloping ramp that lets ships slide into or out of the water

noun
/weɪz/

Specialized

: slipway

Workers repaired the ways before starting on the next vessel's construction.

Examples

The ship was launched from the ways at the shipyard.
The ship slid smoothly down the ways into the water during the launching ceremony.
After months in dry dock, the boat was finally returned to the water via the ways.
The workers repaired the vessel on the ways.
The ship was carefully taken to the ways for maintenance before its next voyage.
The workers prepared the vessel on the ways, readying it for repairs in the shipyard.
After docking, the crew guided the boat onto the ways to ensure a smooth repair process.

Synonyms

slipway

vsways

1 7.2

A sloping ramp by water used to move boats into or out of the water

focuses on launching and repair use within shipyards rather than removal tasks

shipway

vsways

Specialized

9.2

A sloping ramp used to move ships between water and land for building or repair

is used specifically in shipyards mainly for launching or repairing vessels

Idioms

to have it both ways

Informal

27 7.2

To try to get the good parts of two opposite choices at the same time

in two ways

10 2.8

By two different methods or for two reasons

to go their separate ways

8 3.9

Stop being together and take different paths in life

set in one's ways

Informal

4 7.2

Not willing to change habits or the way they do things

six ways to Sunday

Informal

3 9.3

In every possible way

the ways of the world

2 6.0

The usual rules and customs people learn to live in society

to swing both ways

NSFW

1 8.3

To be attracted to both men and women or to like different things

Compounds

Ways and Means Committee

Formal

22 6.3

A permanent group in the US House that suggests laws about taxes and government money

ways and means

Formal

3 5.1

Methods and resources for getting something done, often to raise money

parting of the ways

2 6.1

A time when people or groups separate and go different ways

Surface Forms

way singular

ways plural

Morphology

ways = way (opaque) = way + s

Although formed by the regular plural of 'way', the specialized nautical meaning 'sloping structure for launching ships' is a technical sense not predictable by learners from the common senses of 'way'.

Etymology

The word ways comes from the old word way, which means 'path' or 'road' and is the same part you see in highway. In shipyards, the ways are the sloping path that leads a ship into the water so it can slide down, so the origin explains its modern meaning.