the (occasionally your,etc.) next way: the shortest, most convenient, or most direct way; (in extended use) the easiest or most obvious thing to…

A passage, course, or way straight across; esp. as opposed to going round a corner or by a circuitous route. Also concrete, and figurative.

Also near cut. (Still common in Scottish)

A path or a course taken between two places which is shorter than the ordinary road. (In early use almost exclusively shorter or shortest cut.)

A direct way over a hill, etc. Obsolete. rare.

(Usually cross cut.) A cut or cutting across or from side to side; a direct path between two points, transverse or diagonal to the main way.

A piece of road or railway which cuts off or saves a bend; a short cut, cross-cut.

= short cut, n.1 2; frequently figurative.