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.
About 15 are on display in his home office, alongside model planes and other travel paraphernalia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Fleming has brought in Richard Dawson, who leaves his position as Glamorgan head coach, alongside former England wicketkeeper James Foster and South African Eric Simons.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
Within days, Wolf sent the Canadian star several demos for the intro of her as-yet unreleased song, “Doghouse,” featuring Wolf alongside experimental American rapper Yeat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
Those benefits should be weighed alongside the value of the unpaid care she is providing and the career opportunities she says she has sacrificed.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
It’s been hard for me to accept that I’ll never again get to work alongside him, crafting another canoe, or tackling his mounds of paperwork.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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.
