COMMON If you make headway, you make progress with something that you are trying to achieve. A spokesman said the two sides have made headway on some security issues. It appears that the police have made little headway in the investigation.

What does to make headway mean?

: to move forward or make progress The wind kept the boat from making headway toward shore. The boat made little headway against the strong current. They've recently made some headway in their search for a cure. ...

Where does the phrase making headway come from?

Advance, make progress, as in We haven't made any headway with this project. This expression, first recorded in 1887, uses headway in the nautical sense of “a vessel's forward movement.”