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In a family way

 - 10 dictionary results
NYC Doula Care, since1991
Nurturing Families after the Birth P/T Breastfeeding + Newborn help
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fam⋅i⋅ly

  [fam-uh-lee, fam-lee] noun, plural -lies, adjective
Use In a family way in a Sentence
–noun
1. parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not.
2. the children of one person or one couple collectively: We want a large family.
3. the spouse and children of one person: We're taking the family on vacation next week.
4. any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts, and cousins: to marry into a socially prominent family.
5. all those persons considered as descendants of a common progenitor.
6. Chiefly British. approved lineage, esp. noble, titled, famous, or wealthy ancestry: young men of family.
7. a group of persons who form a household under one head, including parents, children, and servants.
8. the staff, or body of assistants, of an official: the office family.
9. a group of related things or people: the family of romantic poets; the halogen family of elements.
10. a group of people who are generally not blood relations but who share common attitudes, interests, or goals and, frequently, live together: Many hippie communes of the sixties regarded themselves as families.
11. a group of products or product models made by the same manufacturer or producer.
12. Biology. the usual major subdivision of an order or suborder in the classification of plants, animals, fungi, etc., usually consisting of several genera.
13. Slang. a unit of the Mafia or Cosa Nostra operating in one area under a local leader.
14. Linguistics. the largest category into which languages related by common origin can be classified with certainty: Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, and Austronesian are the most widely spoken families of languages. Compare stock (def. 12), subfamily (def. 2).
15. Mathematics.
a. a given class of solutions of the same basic equation, differing from one another only by the different values assigned to the constants in the equation.
b. a class of functions or the like defined by an expression containing a parameter.
c. a set.
–adjective
16. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a family: a family trait.
17. belonging to or used by a family: a family automobile; a family room.
18. suitable or appropriate for adults and children: a family amusement park.
19. not containing obscene language: a family newspaper.
—Idiom
20. in a or the family way, pregnant.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME familie < L familia a household, the slaves of a household, equiv. to famul(us) servant, slave + -ia -y 3

Usage note:
See collective noun.
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Nurturing Families after the Birth P/T Breastfeeding + Newborn help
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way

1  [wey]
–noun
1. manner, mode, or fashion: a new way of looking at a matter; to reply in a polite way.
2. characteristic or habitual manner: Her way is to work quietly and never complain.
3. a method, plan, or means for attaining a goal: to find a way to reduce costs.
4. a respect or particular: The plan is defective in several ways.
5. a direction or vicinity: Look this way. We're having a drought out our way.
6. passage or progress on a course: to make one's way on foot; to lead the way.
7. Often, ways. distance: They've come a long way.
8. a path or course leading from one place to another: What's the shortest way to town?
9. British.
a. an old Roman or pre-Roman road: Icknield Way.
b. a minor street in a town: He lives in Stepney Way.
10. a road, route, passage, or channel (usually used in combination): highway; waterway; doorway.
11. Law. a right of way.
12. any line of passage or travel, used or available: to blaze a way through dense woods.
13. space for passing or advancing: to clear a way through the crowd.
14. Often, ways. a habit or custom: The grandmother lived by the ways of the old country.
15. course or mode of procedure that one chooses or wills: They had to do it my way.
16. condition, as to health, prosperity, or the like: to be in a bad way.
17. range or extent of experience or notice: the best device that ever came in my way.
18. a course of life, action, or experience: The way of transgressors is hard.
19. Informal. business: to be in the haberdashery way.
20. Nautical.
a. ways, two or more ground ways down which a hull slides in being launched.
b. movement or passage through the water.
21. Machinery. a longitudinal strip, as in a planer, guiding a moving part along a surface.
—Idioms
22. by the way, in the course of one's remarks; incidentally: By the way, have you received that letter yet?
23. by way of,
a. by the route of; through; via.
b. as a method or means of: to number articles by way of distinguishing them.
c. British. in the state or position of (being, doing, etc.); ostensibly: He is by way of being an authority on the subject.
24. come one's way, to come to one; befall one: A bit of good fortune came my way.
25. give way,
a. to withdraw or retreat: The army gave way before the advance of the enemy.
b. to collapse; yield; break down: You will surely give way under the strain of overwork.
26. give way to,
a. to yield to: He gave way to their entreaties.
b. to become unrestrained or uninhibited; lose control of (one's temper, emotions, etc.): I gave way to my rage and ordered them from the house.
27. go all the way, Slang.
a. to do completely or wholeheartedly.
b. to take a decisive action, esp. one from which no retreat is possible: Neither side wants to go all the way with nuclear warfare.
c. to engage in sexual intercourse.
28. go out of one's way, to do something that inconveniences one; make an unusual effort: Please don't go out of your way on my account.
29. have a way with, to have a charming, persuasive, or effective manner of dealing with: He has a way with children; to have a way with words.
30. have one's way with, (esp. of a man) to have sexual intercourse with, sometimes by intimidating or forcing one's partner.
31. in a family way, pregnant.
32. in a way, after a fashion; to some extent: In a way, she's the nicest person I know.
33. in someone's way, forming a hindrance, impediment, or obstruction: She might have succeeded in her ambition, had not circumstances been in her way. Also, in the way.
34. lead the way,
a. to go along a course in advance of others, as a guide.
b. to take the initiative; be first or most prominent: In fashion she has always led the way.
35. make one's way,
a. to go forward; proceed: to make one's way through the mud.
b. to achieve recognition or success; advance: to make one's way in the world.
36. make way,
a. to allow to pass; clear the way: Make way for the king!
b. to relinquish to another; withdraw: He resigned to make way for a younger man.
c. Nautical. to make forward or astern progress even though engines are not running.
37. no way, Informal. not under any circumstances; no: Apologize to him? No way!
38. out of the way,
a. in a state or condition so as not to obstruct or hinder.
b. dealt with; disposed of: I feel better, now that one problem is out of the way.
c. murdered: to have a person put out of the way.
d. out of the frequented way; at a distance from the usual route.
e. improper; amiss: There was something decidedly out of the way about her explanation.
f. extraordinary; unusual: Such behavior was out of the way for him.
39. pave the way to or for. pave (def. 3).
40. see one's way clear, to regard as suitable or possible; consider seriously: We couldn't see our way clear to spending so much money at once. Also, see one's way.
41. take one's way, to start out; travel; go: He took his way across the park and headed uptown.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME wei(gh)e, wai, OE weg; c. D, G Weg, ON vegr, Goth wigs; akin to L vehere to carry

Related forms:
wayless, adjective

Synonyms:
3. scheme, device. See method. 4. detail, part. 7. space, interval. 10. track. 14. usage, practice, wont.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Cultural Dictionary

family

In biology, the classification lower than an order and higher than a genus. Lions, tigers, cheetahs, and house cats belong to the same biological family. Human beings belong to the biological family of hominids. (See Linnean classification.)

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
in a family way

and in the family way
  1. mod.
    pregnant. : I hear that Britney is in a family way.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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way

  1. mod.
    extremely; totally. : Oh, this is way gross!
  2. interj.
    There is too a way!, as an answer to No way! : A: I won't do it. No way! B: Way! Yes, you will.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

family 
c.1400, "servants of a household," from L. familia "household," including relatives and servants, from famulus "servant," of unknown origin. The classical L. sense recorded in Eng. from 1545; the main modern sense of "those connected by blood" (whether living together or not) is first attested 1667. Replaced O.E. hiwscipe. Buzzword family values first recorded 1966. Phrase in a family way "pregnant" is from 1796. Family circle is 1809; family man, one devoted to wife and children, is 1856 (earlier it meant "thief," 1788, from family in slang sense of "the fraternity of thieves").

way 
O.E. weg "road, path, course of travel," from P.Gmc. *wegaz (cf. O.S., Du. weg, O.N. vegr, O.Fris. wei, O.H.G. weg, Ger. Weg, Goth. wigs "way"), from PIE *wegh- "to move" (see weigh). Most of the extended senses developed in M.E. Adj. meaning "very, extremely" is early 1980s, perhaps from phrase all the way. Wayfaring is O.E. wegfarende; Ways and means "resources at a person's disposal" is attested from c.1430. Way-out (adj.) "original, bold," is jazz slang, first recorded 1940s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: fam·i·ly
Pronunciation: 'fam-lE, 'fa-m&-
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -lies
1 : a group of individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoption
2 : a group of usually related individuals who live together under common household authority and esp. who have reciprocal duties to each other
NOTE: The interpretation of the word family in a law context depends upon the area of the law concerned (as contract or zoning law), the purpose of the document (as a statute or contract) in which it is used, and the facts of the case. Often for zoning purposes, the occupants of a group home are considered a family if the organization is like that of a family or if the home is going to be a permanent rather than a transitional residence for the occupants. —fa·mil·ial /f&-'mil-y&l/ adjective
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: fam·i·ly
Pronunciation: 'fam-(&-)lE
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -lies
1 : the basic unitin society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their own or adopted children; also : any of various social units differing from but regarded as equivalent to the traditionalfamily family>
2 : a group of related plants or animals forming a category ranking above a genus and below an order and usually comprising several tomany genera —family adjective
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

family fam·i·ly (fām'ə-lē, fām'lē)
n.

  1. A group of blood relatives, especially parents and their children.

  2. A taxonomic category of related organisms ranking below an order and above a genus.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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