shoulder to shoulder

Idioms  

1. In close proximity or cooperation, as in The volunteers worked shoulder to shoulder in the effort to rescue the miners. This expression originated in the late 1500s in the military, at first signifying troops in close formation. Its figurative use dates from the late 1800s.

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Example Sentences

“This is the first time that we have said ‘we don’t agree with your assessment of the security risk and we won’t stand shoulder to shoulder with you,’” says Sophia Gaston, a foreign-policy expert at King’s College London.

From The Wall Street Journal

The tall houses were packed together along one side of the street like a line of soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder.

From Literature

“We were living shoulder to shoulder in the suburbs and thought that’s not how we want our kids to grow up,” he said.

From MarketWatch

I wished that we could help them, that I could stand up and fight shoulder to shoulder with the men who stood for freedom, but, of course, I couldn’t.

From Literature

Elliot joined me, and we sat shoulder to shoulder in silence for a minute.

From Literature

Related Words

• collectively
• in tandem
• jointly
• simultaneously
• together