alongside

American  

[uh-lawng-sahyd, uh-long-] / əˈlɔŋˈsaɪd, əˈlɒŋ- /

adverb

1. along, by, at, or to the side of something.

   We brought the boat alongside.

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preposition

1. beside; by the side of.

   The dog ran alongside me all the way.

2. Informal. alongside of, compared with.

   Alongside of his brother, he is no student at all.

alongside British  

/ əˈlɒŋˌsaɪd /

preposition

1. (often foll by of) along the side of; along beside

   alongside the quay

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adverb

1. along the side of some specified thing

   come alongside

Etymology

Origin of alongside

First recorded in 1700–10; along + side ¹

Explanation

Use the adverb alongside when two things are right next to each other, like a boat and a dock or a hunter and her loyal dog. If you pull up alongside your friend's car in a parking lot, it means that you've parked directly beside it. Alongside can also imply cooperation, as when a baker's assistant works alongside him, kneading dough and wiping flour off the counter. Alongside was once a phrase, either "along side" or "along the side," both primarily used in a nautical sense, to talk about boats. In the 1700s it became a single word.

Example Sentences

Alongside the research, scientists released an interactive visualization that allows users to explore the remarkable scale of this hidden underground infrastructure.

From Science Daily • Jun. 15, 2026

Alongside calling for the cancellation of the Zvernec project, protesters also want the scrapping of laws that have allowed the government to fast-track projects -- such as Kushner's other planned development on nearby Sazan Island.

From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026

Alongside the guitar is a copy of the Declaration of Independence, annotated by John McKesson, secretary of New York’s Fourth Provincial Congress, in the days following July 4, 1776.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026

Alongside calling for the cancellation of the Zvernec project, protesters also want the scrapping of laws that have allowed the government to fast-track projects -- such as Kushner's other development on nearby Sazan Island.

From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026

Alongside this new framework, the printing press was transforming the nature of intellectual communities, the knowledge they could exchange, and the attitude to authority and to evidence that came naturally to them.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton