one's way

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

one's way

1. Preceded by a verb and followed by an adverbial prepositional phrase to express a successfully completed action in a literal or figurative space, where the verb denotes the means or manner of the action, while the prepositional phrase specifies the direction or goal of the action:
   1. Used to express a physical movement performed by the subject (especially in a forward direction).

      to force one's way in

      I had to elbow (my way) through (the crowd).

      • 2016 May 25, “This season it’s all about the swimsuit. Take the plunge”, in The Times‎:

        The under-thirties will have memories of swimming lessons in saggy cossies; those over 30 of Farrah Fawcett in a sunset-orange suit circa 1976. No matter when you were born you won’t forget Pamela Anderson slo-moing her way along the LA coastline in a high-cut swimsuit.

      • 2024 September 18, Mehera Bonner, “A Look at All the ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Winners Over the Years”, in Cosmopolitan‎:

        At this point, Dancing With the Stars has been on for a frightening amount of time—meaning a truly shocking number of celebrities have wrapped themselves in stretchy glitter onesies and pirouetted their way around that hallowed ballroom while regretting all their life choices, deep in contemplation about firing their agent.

      • 2024 November 27, Paul Bigland, “Around the UK on nearly 80 trains...”, in RAIL, number 1023, page 48:

        On arrival at Edinburgh Waverley, I fight my way through the throngs of tourists and locals turning the place into a human anthill.

   2. (figurative) Used to express an advance or progress made by the subject.

      to fight one's way into the final

      • 2016 April 9, Dave Sheinin, “Jordan Spieth falters down the stretch but still leads the Masters through 54 holes”, in The Washington Post‎:

        Even four-time major champion Rory McIlroy, who played his way into Saturday's final pairing with Spieth, only to implode spectacularly with an adventure-filled 77 that included not a single birdie, remains in contention, thanks to Spieth's unexpected generosity on the day's final two holes.

      • 2020 September 12, Abigail Radnor, Peter Bradshaw, Alex Clark, quoting Abigail Radnor, “'He charms for a living': what dual home working reveals about your partner”, in The Guardian‎:

        Every month, a different delivery arrived with ingredients for the next Zoom event. There was pizza-making night, which resembled a seven-year-old’s party – but who was I to judge as they laughed their way through pixelated dough-kneading when I got a pizza out of it?

      • 2024 August 9, Laura Snapes, “It’s a femininomenon! How Chappell Roan slow-burned her way to stardom”, in The Guardian‎:

        The experience prompted her [Chappell Roan] to cultivate an outre persona that allowed the queer musician born Kayleigh Amstutz to express everything she had once repressed, growing up in a Christian community. […] She then hustled her way – via stints back home working in a drive-thru doughnut shop – to a deal with Island.

In linguistics, this pattern is called the “way-construction”.^[1]