alongside
Americanadverb
preposition
-
beside; by the side of.
The dog ran alongside me all the way.
-
Informal. alongside of, compared with.
Alongside of his brother, he is no student at all.
preposition
adverb
Etymology
Origin of alongside
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This gradual change suggests that dreams may evolve alongside psychological adjustment, particularly as people adapt to stressful or disruptive events.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
Chief Executive Michael Leiters warned last month that the company was in talks with employee representatives to slash jobs alongside other initiatives to ensure the competitiveness of Porsche’s sites.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Former colleague and friend Michael Henderson, better known as Hendy, worked alongside Kelly on The Kelly Show.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Advanced memory chips are in huge demand for their key role in AI servers, alongside other powerful data-crunching semiconductors made by the likes of Nvidia.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
It was so important that the team was about to board a small unmarked plane and fly to a top-secret facility outside of London for a week of mission-specific training alongside British Special Forces.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
