Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

waxy /wæ ksi/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Something that is waxy looks or feels like wax. □  Choose small waxy potatoes for the salad. □  …the waxy coating on the insect's body.

way ◆◆◆ /we I / (ways )

1 N‑COUNT [N to-inf] If you refer to a way of doing something, you are referring to how you can do it, for example the action you can take or the method you can use to achieve it. □ [+ of ] Another way of making new friends is to go to an evening class. □  I worked myself into a frenzy plotting ways to make him jealous. □  I can't think of a worse way to spend my time. □  There just might be a way. □  'All right, Mrs Bates,' she said. 'We'll do it your way'.

2 N‑COUNT [usu sing, usu adj N ] If you talk about the way someone does something, you are talking about the qualities their action has. □  She smiled in a friendly way. □ [+ of ] He had a strange way of talking.

3 N‑COUNT [oft in N ] If a general statement or description is true in a particular way , this is the form of it that is true in a particular case. □  Computerized reservation systems help airline profits in several ways. □  She was afraid in a way that was quite new to her.

4 N‑COUNT You use way in expressions such as in some ways , in many ways , and in every way to indicate the degree or extent to which a statement is true. □  In some ways, the official opening is a formality. □  She described her lover as 'perfect in every way'.

5 N‑PLURAL The ways of a particular person or group of people are their customs or their usual behaviour. □  He denounces people who urge him to alter his ways. □  He said he was against returning to old authoritarian ways.

6 N‑SING [with poss] If you refer to someone's way , you are referring to their usual or preferred type of behaviour. □  In her usual resourceful way, she has started her own business. □  Direct confrontation was not his way.

7 N‑COUNT You use way to refer to one particular opinion or interpretation of something, when others are possible. □  I suppose that's one way of looking at it. □ [+ of ] With most of Dylan's lyrics, however, there are other ways of interpreting the words. □  Sometimes, the bank manager just doesn't see it your way.

8 N‑COUNT You use way when mentioning one of a number of possible, alternative results or decisions. □  There is no indication which way the vote could go. □  The judge could have decided either way.

9 N‑SING The way you feel about something is your attitude to it or your opinion about it. □  I'm terribly sorry–I had no idea you felt that way.

10 N‑SING If you mention the way that something happens, you are mentioning the fact that it happens. □  I hate the way he manipulates people. □  You may remember the way each scene ended with someone looking pensive or significant.

11 N‑SING You use way in expressions such as push your way , work your way , or eat your way , followed by a prepositional phrase or adverb, in order to indicate movement, progress, or force as well as the action described by the verb. □ [+ into ] She thrust her way into the crowd. □ [+ into ] He thought we were trying to buy our way into his company.

12 N‑COUNT The way somewhere consists of the different places that you go through or the route that you take in order to get there. □ [+ to ] Does anybody know the way to the bathroom? □  I'm afraid I can't remember the way. □  We're not even a third of the way there.