right-of-way

noun

ˌrīt-ə(v)-ˈwā 

plural rights-of-way also right-of-ways

1

: a legal right of passage over another person's ground

2

a

: the area over which a right-of-way exists

b

: the strip of land over which is built a public road

c

: the land occupied by a railroad especially for its main line

d

: the land used by a public utility (as for a transmission line)

3

a

: a precedence in passing accorded to one vehicle over another by custom, decision, or statute

b

: the right of traffic to take precedence

c

: the right to take precedence over others

gave the bill the right-of-way in the Senate

Synonyms

• precedence
• priority

Examples of right-of-way in a Sentence

the bill for emergency aid was immediately granted right-of-way

Recent Examples on the Web

In June 2023, a federal judge ordered that the oil giant was in trespass of the Band’s land, as the right-of-way easement expired more than a decade ago after the Band chose not to renew it, fearing environmental harm. —Caitlin Looby, Journal Sentinel, 17 Dec. 2024

Yet using existing rights-of-way, rebuilding, upgrading, running lines underground, on-site generation and 70-some alternate routes and remedies are all conspicuously absent from a real discussion about the project — a discussion that has not actually happened. —Joe Vigliotti, Baltimore Sun, 10 Dec. 2024

The site is along the railroad right-of-way, Wood said, an area that the city wants to make into a pedestrian pathway. —Corina Vanek, Arizona Republic, 3 Dec. 2024

The right-of-way for the line is 150 feet wide, according to PSEG. —Christine Condon, Baltimore Sun, 21 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1768, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

right-of-way

noun

ˌrīt-ə(v)-ˈwā

plural rights-of-way

1

: a legal right to pass over another person's land

2

: the area over which a right-of-way exists

3

: the right of certain traffic to go ahead of other traffic

4

: priority sense 1

gave the bill the right-of-way in the Senate

Legal Definition

right-of-way

1

: an easement or servitude over another's land conferring a right of passage

2

a

: the area over which a right-of-way exists

b

: the strip of land over which is built a public road

c

: the land occupied by a railroad especially for its main line

d

: the land used by a public utility (as for a transmission line)

3

a

: a precedence in passing accorded to one vehicle over another by custom, decision, or statute

b

: the right of traffic to take precedence