right of way

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The right to pass over property owned by another party.
• noun The path or thoroughfare on which such passage is made.
• noun The strip of land over which facilities such as highways, railroads, or power lines are built.
• noun The customary or legal right of a person, vehicle, or vessel to take a particular course while others defer.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun uncountable The right to proceed first in traffic.
• noun countable A legal right of passage over another's land or pathways.
• noun countable A legal easement granted for the construction of a roadway or railway.
• noun countable Land on which a right of way exists.
• noun countable The area modified for passage of a railway; often specifically the railbed and tracks.
• noun fencing, uncountable The priority granted to the first person to properly execute an attack.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the privilege of someone to pass over land belonging to someone else
• noun the passage consisting of a path or strip of land over which someone has the legal right to pass
• noun the right of one vehicle or vessel to take precedence over another