in the way of

in the way of (someone or something)

1. Obstructing someone or interfering in something. Ugh, the neighbor always puts his trash cans in the way of my car. She's so determined that I just know nothing will get in the way of her plans to finish her thesis.
2. Relating to a broad group or category of something. I don't think this store has much in the way of spices, unfortunately.
See also: of, way
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

in the way of someone

('s plans) Go to in someone's way.
See also: of, way

in the way of something

as a kind of something; as a style of something. What do you have in the way of dress shoes? We have nothing in the way of raincoats.
See also: of, way
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • a lot, not much, etc. in the way of something
  • can't stand
  • can't stand (someone or something)
  • back at it
  • back at it (again)
  • hate on
  • hate on (someone or something)
  • can't stomach (someone)
  • blow up (one's) phone
  • be on someone's back
References in classic literature
On the cloth being removed Don Antonio, taking Don Quixote by the hand, passed with him into a distant room in which there was nothing in the way of furniture except a table, apparently of jasper, resting on a pedestal of the same, upon which was set up, after the fashion of the busts of the Roman emperors, a head which seemed to be of bronze.
Don Quixote
Unknown numbers of civilians--somewhere between 500 and 3,000--managed to get in the way of the bombs and the bullets, earning us the lasting enmity of their survivors.
Not the war we needed. (Flip Side)
A Congressional debate would nonetheless place an obstacle in the way of the Administration's march toward war, and it could provide a focal point for mobilizing popular opposition.
Stop the war before it starts. (Cover Story)