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.
"We're all waiting to see what they've done," Dave Jones, GTA's co-creator, tells me, sitting alongside the original game's writer and publicist, Brian Baglow.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2026
The once and future chairs of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees should focus on supporting a dynamic and growing economy, alongside prudent fiscal policies, in response to voters’ concerns.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 14, 2026
The extraordinary concentration of graves led Petrie to propose that the people buried alongside the kings were victims of a practice known as retainer sacrifice.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 14, 2026
The show regularly sits in the top podcast charts on Spotify alongside giants like Joe Rogan and Theo Von.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2026
Maya-Jade, riding to the courthouse in the Shady Glen van alongside Julio, Leyla, Minna, and Sid, is also trying to be brave, though it’s hard.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
