Compound words with WAY

WAY is a hinge word: 9 words make a compound in front of it and 2 make one after it, so it can sit in the middle of a chain and hold two compounds together at once.

Words that go in front of WAY

Each of these makes a compound ending in WAY.

• anyway — any + way
• doorway — door + way
• driveway — drive + way
• freeway — free + way
• headway — head + way
• runway — run + way
• underway — under + way
• walkway — walk + way
• waterway — water + way

Words that follow WAY

Each of these makes a compound starting with WAY.

• wayside — way + side
• wayward — way + ward

Why WAY joins on both sides

WAY means road, method and direction. HIGHWAY and RAILWAY are roads, DOORWAY and GATEWAY are openings, and WAYSIDE keeps the road sense alive.

Bridges you can build through WAY

Put any word from the first list in front and any word from the second behind, and you have a three-word chain in which both neighbouring pairs join. Here are some of them.

• ANY → WAY → SIDE — anyway and wayside
• DOOR → WAY → WARD — doorway and wayward

Play a bridge

KEYSTONE is a free daily puzzle built entirely out of chains like these. You get the two ends and have to fill the two words in the middle. Three bridges a day, no account, no cookies.

Play today's KEYSTONE

Other hinge words

Each of these has a page like this one. There is also an index of all 27.

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