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.
The two men served alongside each other at the top of China's leadership from 1998 to 2003, leading China through an era of rapid economic growth and entry into global trade.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
McPhail, alongside Ann-Marie Campbell, the senior executive vice president of U.S. stores and operations, will oversee operations during his absence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Showing his elevated status, Kim appeared alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin at a military parade in Beijing last year.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
He then spent a great deal of time carrying out a major overhaul of the property, alongside his longtime collaborator Nicole Fuller.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Catch us turning up at school alongside the teacher!
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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.
