in the way of

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in the way of

1. (idiomatic) In relation to; in connection with; with respect to.
   • 1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 12, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Boston, Mass.: John P Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC:

     He had seen Death many times, - met him in the way of trade, and got acquainted with him.

   • 1879, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 13, in Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes, 1st American edition, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:

     Of what that involves in the way of doctrine I have no idea nor the time to inform myself.

   • 2011 September 2, Sonia van Gilder Cooke, “Harvard's a Bargain — If You're From the U.K.”, in Time:

     Certainly their extracurricular talents in the way of sport have not gone unnoticed.

2. (idiomatic) In or into a position of being likely to obtain, to attain, or to achieve.
   • 1881, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter 34, in The Prince and the Pauper: A Tale for Young People of All Ages, Montreal, Que.: Dawson Brothers, →OCLC:

     The King sought out the farmer who had been branded and sold as a slave . . . and put him in the way of a comfortable livelihood.

   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter IV, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented , volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: James R Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., , →OCLC:

     But it would certainly put her in the way of a grand marriage.

   • 1990, Stephen King, chapter 59, in The Stand:

     I am in the way of knowing that one of you will not reach your destination, but I don’t know which will be the one to fall. I am in the way of knowing that the rest will be taken before this man Flagg, who is not a man at all but a supernatural being. [...] It’s not my place to argue with you, or convince, but only to put you in the way of understanding God’s plan for you.

3. (idiomatic) Similar to; as an instance of; as a kind of.
   • 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter XIX, in Great Expectations , volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, , published October 1861, →OCLC, page 328:

     "My dear young friend, rely upon my doing my little all in your absence, by keeping the fact before the mind of Joseph.—Joseph!" said Mr. Pumblechook, in the way of a compassionate adjuration.

   • 1906, O. Henry, The Gift Of The Magi:

     I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less.

• by way of
• in the way