Dictionary

pave the way en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈpeɪv ðə ˈweɪ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From the idea that once a paved path has been laid, travel on the route is easier and smoother for others.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To make future progress or development easier.
   • A perverting of this Firſt and Original Chriſtian Principle, by Political and Aſpiring Church-Guides, […] did not only pave the way for Popery, but both laid the Foundation thereof and finiſh'd its Superſtructure: […] 1705, Robert Fleming, “[The Epistle Dedicatory]”, in Christology. A Discourse Concerning Christ: Considered I In Himself, II In His Government, and III In Relation to His Subjects and Their Duty to Him. In Six Books. Being a New Essay towards a farther Revival and Re-introduction of Primitive-Scriptural-Divinity, by way of Specimen, London: Printed for Andrew Bell, and the Bible and Cross-Keys in Cornhill, →OCLC, page ix:
   • As we have seen, some of the women active before the feminist movement showed a concern for women's oppression and rights and helped pave the way for the exploration of women's issues in performance. 1988, Sue-Ellen Case, “Radical Feminism and Theatre”, in Feminism and Theatre, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 62:
   • The film industry's current use of storyboards as a preproduction, pre-visualization tool owes its humble beginnings to the original Sunday comics. Pioneers like Winsor McKay,^([sic – meaning McCay]) whose Gertie the Dinosaur […] and animation of the Sinking of the Lusitania (1915) established him as the true originator of the animated cartoon as an art form. He paved the way for [Walt] Disney and others. 2013, John Hart, “The Storyboard’s Beginnings”, in The Art of the Storyboard: A Filmmaker’s Introduction, Burlington, Mass.; Oxford: Focal Press, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 1:
   • Siemens has landed a contract to upgrade signalling on the entire 170km (105-mile) S-Bane suburban network in Copenhagen to pave the way for fully automated trains. 2024 May 1, “Network News: Danes plan fully automated trains”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 18:
   • The gratification of one inordinate pursuit paves the way for another; and no sooner is the present vain wish indulged, than a future imagined necessity arises, equally importunate. 1876, Henry Southgate, “A Few Things My Wife, when Won, Will Like Me to Observe and Do”, in The Way to Woo and Win a Wife. Illustrated by a Series of Choice Extracts, together with some Original Matter never before Printed, London; Edinburgh: William P. Nimmo, […] 14 King William Street, Strand, →OCLC, page 262:
   • Prince Louis Napoleon was president of France, and his dictatorial behaviour was paving the way for his assumption of the imperial crown. 1972, “Revolution at Floodtide”, in Thomas G[arden] Barnes and Gerald D[onald] Feldman, editors, Nationalism, Industrialization, and Democracy 1815–1914 (A Documentary History of Europe; III), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC; republished Lanham, Md.; London: University Press of America, 1980, page 91
   • Germany's development of rocket weapons paved the way for human controlled spaceflight.

Forms

Synonyms

prepare the ground · grease the wheels · set the stage

Translations (27)

tr yol açmak (to make future development easier) · fi tasoittaa tietä (to make future development easier) · it aprire la strada (to make future development easier) · pl torować drogę (to make future development easier) · nb bane vei (to make future development easier) · hu elősegít (to make future development easier) · lt nutiesti kelią (to make future development easier) · es preparar/allanar el camino (to make future development easier) · sv bana väg (to make future development easier) · ka რამისთვის ნიადაგის შემზადება (to make future development easier) · de den Weg ebnen (to make future development easier) · wa taper des poes dvant les colons (to make future development easier) · hu lehetővé tesz (to make future development easier) · ka გზის გაკვალვა (to make future development easier) · sh utabati stazu (to make future development easier) · fr ouvrir la voie (to make future development easier) · ru подгото́вить по́чву (to make future development easier) · it spianare la strada (to make future development easier) · hu utat nyit (to make future development easier) · cmn 鋪路 /铺路 (to make future development easier) · nn bane veg (to make future development easier) · ru проложи́ть путь (to make future development easier) · az zəmin yaratmaq (to make future development easier) · el ανοίγω τον δρόμο (to make future development easier) · pl utorować drogę (to make future development easier) · es abrir camino (to make future development easier) · cmn 鋪平道路 /铺平道路 (to make future development easier)