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.
For one, L3Harris is, alongside Northrop Grumman, one of only two companies that make solid rocket motors at scale.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
The emphatic pushback from Gomez may reflect a concern for her reputation but it also leaves her mother in the hot-seat, facing the fraud allegations alongside the company itself and a third co-founder.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
The “King of Queens” star confirmed rumors that she was joining the 16th season of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” with an Instagram post on Wednesday, writing alongside the announcement, “It’s true.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
He was interrogated alongside his running mate in the presence of their lawyers, he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
As a series of steamboats and trains carried Elisha’s body from Louisiana to Pennsylvania, thousands of Americans stood on riverbanks and alongside railroad tracks weeping, hats in hands, hands over hearts.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
