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• alliance
  alliance

  noun

  the act of allying or state of being allied.
• Alliance
  Alliance

  noun

  a city in NE Ohio.

alliance

¹ American  

[uh-lahy-uhns] / əˈlaɪ əns /

noun

alliances plural

1. the act of allying or state of being allied.

   Synonyms:

   affiliation, partnership, bloc, combination, coalition, association

2. a formal agreement or treaty between two or more nations to cooperate for specific purposes.

   Synonyms:

   compact, pact

3. a merging of efforts or interests by persons, families, states, or organizations.

   an alliance between church and state.

4. the persons or entities so allied.

5. marriage or the relationship created by marriage between the families of the spouses.

6. correspondence in basic characteristics; affinity.

   the alliance between logic and metaphysics.

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Alliance ² American  

[uh-lahy-uhns] / əˈlaɪ əns /

noun

1. a city in NE Ohio.

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alliance ¹ British  

/ əˈlaɪəns /

noun

1. the act of allying or state of being allied; union; confederation

2. a formal agreement or pact, esp a military one, between two or more countries to achieve a particular aim

3. the countries involved in such an agreement

4. a union between families through marriage

5. affinity or correspondence in qualities or characteristics

6. botany a taxonomic category consisting of a group of related families; subclass

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Alliance ² British  

/ əˈlaɪəns /

noun

1. 1. the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party acting or regarded as a political entity from 1981 to 1988

   2. ( as modifier )

      an Alliance candidate

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Usage

What is an alliance? An alliance is the act or state of being in a mutually beneficial relationship to work toward a common goal, as in The United States’ longest alliance is with France. Often, alliance refers to a formal agreement between nations that promise to assist each other in war, as in Germany, Italy, and Japan agreed on an alliance during World War II. Alliance can also be used more generally to refer to the people or groups that come together in a common cause, as in The invading orcs were defeated by an alliance of men, elves, and dwarves. Alliance is similar to words such as confederation, union, and league, which also refer to beneficial partnerships. Alliance is used more generally than these words, however. Example: The kids at my school formed an alliance to stop the bully from harassing us. 

Synonym Usage

Alliance, confederation, league, union all mean the joining of states for mutual benefit or to permit the joint exercise of functions. An alliance may apply to any connection entered into for mutual benefit. League usually suggests closer combination or a more definite object or purpose. Confederation applies to a permanent combination for the exercise in common of certain governmental functions. Union implies an alliance so close and permanent that the separate states or parties become essentially one.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interalliance
  noun
• nonalliance
  noun
• prealliance
  noun
• realliance
  noun
• suballiance
  noun
• proalliance
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• alliances
  plural

Etymology

Origin of alliance

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English aliance, from Old French; equivalent to ally + -ance

Explanation

Countries that have an alliance, or agreement, help each other out when in need. That means during times of war, for example, if two countries have an alliance, one will help the other by providing weapons and supplies. An alliance doesn't just have to be between two countries; you can see alliances formed on a playground, when kids start clustering in groups or dividing themselves into teams to play tag. An alliance is essentially a connection through which a common interest is shared. A marriage is an alliance between two people who decide to share their lives together.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

alliance Alliance alliances

It was that kind of insistence on dominance that eventually blew the alliance apart in the 1960s, a rupture that took decades to repair and handed Washington enormous strategic advantage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Their ongoing creative alliance is the result of a genuine friendship between them that started in 2018 when Stillz was first hired as Bad Bunny’s tour photographer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

But Sunday’s tributes suggest that, for many who worked with him over the course of three decades in Congress, Graham’s legacy extends beyond the political alliance that defined his final years in office.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

Eventually, a centre-left alliance won the second round.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

When Tecumseh was killed in October r8r3 at the Battle of the Thames, the alliance crumbled.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Alliance Party assembly member Sian Mulholland also urged anyone with information to contact the police and said her thoughts were with everyone affected.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

But the military has regained the initiative after peeling off two significant ethnic factions with Beijing-backed truces -- the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army.

From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026

If you are struggling with body-image or eating concerns, you can call the National Alliance for Eating Disorders helpline at 866-662-1235.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

He is accused of bank fraud and making a false statement to a bank in a June 8 case involving a $100 million real estate loan made by Phoenix-based Western Alliance Bank.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026

Everyone in Black Alliance has followed me out to the hallway and are begging me to stop.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

The good kind includes security alliances and trade deals to advance U.S. interests, plus efforts to solve tragedies of the commons like overfishing or Ebola.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Researchers are trying to get closer to social structures, forms of exchange, boundaries between groups, the quality of alliances, ways of building a society.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026

In practice, these transfers can help members build alliances, strengthen their party standing and direct resources to competitive races.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

French consul general in New York, Cedrik Fouriscot, told AFP the elaborate performance demonstrated the "importance of alliances."

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

But there were no alliances that could be made.

From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman