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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

In the shrewd balance of his alliance with Moscow and Beijing, he has no need to make any sort of deals with Washington.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

The annual joint exercises with South Korea, a display of Washington and Seoul’s military alliance, began without signs of any immediate cutbacks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

A year after dropping “big bombs” on social media and torching their alliance, President Trump and Elon Musk are back on speaking terms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

In July, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour struck an alliance with the Asian Tour in another blow to LIV Golf.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Venus could not object to a goddess for her daughter-in-law; the alliance had become eminently suitable.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Results of a necropsy by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance are not yet available.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Michael was previously a reporter for Alliance News, a London-based business news service.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

That cannot come soon enough for Jose Rafael Mendoza, president of the Philippine Solar and Storage Energy Alliance.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

The industry trade group for hospice providers, the National Alliance for Care at Home, is against the change recommended by the GAO.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

The Northern Alliance, led by General Ahmed Shah Masood, a great warrior during the Soviet war, was made up of non-Pukhtun Farsi-speaking groups.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai

“Together we will build creative experiences for our consumers across our destinations, platforms, and fan touchpoints,” Becca Vodnoy, Walt Disney Co. senior vice president of corporate alliances, said in the statement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

The Senator, who died Saturday, was an influential supporter of Israel, Ukraine and U.S. alliances.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 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

Often alliances are formed in the early stages of the Games.

From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins