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.
José was a pillar of his community; he rose from washing cars to owning his own car dealership, alongside other businesses in Bakersfield.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 25, 2026
Other sources of income, liable for tax, include the King's own investments and savings alongside money generated by his private estates, Balmoral and Sandringham.
From BBC • Jun. 25, 2026
Sinatra sang that song as part of the cast of the 1949 film version, alongside Jules Munshin and dancer and director Gene Kelly.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 25, 2026
Today, women from the Sardis region work alongside men in excavation and restoration efforts.
From Science Daily • Jun. 25, 2026
When I stop them and run up alongside the team at one point to work on their feet I mistakenly step off the trail and go in up to my armpits.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
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.
