skywayn.
/ˈskʌɪweɪ/, U.S. /ˈskaɪˌweɪ/ Chiefly North American.
1. The sky as a medium of transport; (also) a route through the air, esp. one used regularly by aircraft.Recorded earliest in attributive use.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > air as medium for operation of aircraft > [noun]
skyway1900
airspace1908
1900 Cycling & Motoring 7 July 513/2 We trust that you'll be chairman Of the Local Skyway Board.
1924 Public Opinion 9 May 441/1 The highways and seaways and skyways of the world.
1952 N.Y. Times 7 Aug. 39/8 The team of precision flyers will fly the skyway route on the way to their home base at Corpus Christi, Tex.
1967 M. Craven I heard Owl xi. 68 High in the skyways wild geese called exultantly on their first early passages back from the south.
2000 Wired Jan. 136/1 The GPS-based SATS (Small Aircraft Transportation System)..will integrate the physical infrastructure, air-traffic control, and rules of the skyway.
2. An elevated motorway or section of motorway, esp. one spanning water.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > for wheeled vehicles > for fast motor traffic > overhead
skyway1924
1924 Travel Apr. 57 (advt.) If you do not care to ride horseback, tour over splendid ‘skyways’ in comfortable motor busses.
1940 Sun (Baltimore) 6 Sept. 13/4 It has been suggested that a skyway be built along Pratt street from Monroe to the Fallsway, the western end to connect with the route to Washington.
1972 J. Gores Dead Skip (1973) i. 7 Heslip unlocked the chain-link storage lot under the concrete abutments of the skyway.
2012 N.Y. Times 7 Feb. d1/1 Venture deep inside the new skyway of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and it becomes clear that the bridge's engineers have planned for the long-term.
3. Also with capital initial. An enclosed aerial walkway between buildings; (the name of) an interconnected system of such walkways. Chiefly with reference to such a system in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Cf. skywalk n. at sky n.1 Compounds 3.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > path or place for walking > [noun] > foot(-)path > raised, between buildings
skyway1968
1968 Archit. Forum Jan. 83/2 The first pedestrian bridge of an elaborate second-story network has been completed in downtown St. Paul. Part of the 12-block urban renewal project, the ‘Skyway’ will eventually comprise an elevated system of bridges and concourses.
1970 Business Week 26 Dec. 48/2 Shelter from summer heat and winter weather is one advantage of skyways—especially in Minneapolis, where it is below or near freezing for five months of the year.
1993 D. Gebhard & G. Mansheim Buildings of Iowa 195 The malady of skyways has also hit the city, and..these have turned out to be aesthetically disappointing.
2006 Time Out N.Y. 20 July 19/1 In downtown Minneapolis, pedestrians stay toasty in the warm cocoon of the skyways.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1900