align
Americanverb (used with object)
-
aligns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
aligned,
past participle, past
-
aligning
present participle
-
to arrange in a straight line; adjust according to a line.
- Synonyms:
- straighten
-
to bring into a line or alignment.
- Synonyms:
- straighten
-
to bring into cooperation or agreement with a particular group, party, cause, etc..
He aligned himself with the liberals.
-
to adjust (two or more components of an electronic circuit) to improve the response over a frequency band, as to align the tuned circuits of a radio receiver for proper tracking throughout its frequency range, or a television receiver for appropriate wide-band responses.
verb (used without object)
-
aligns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
aligned,
past participle, past
-
aligning
present participle
-
to fall or come into line; be in line.
-
to join with others in a cause.
verb
-
to place or become placed in a line
-
to bring (components or parts, such as the wheels of a car) into proper or desirable coordination or relation
-
to bring (a person, country, etc) into agreement or cooperation with the policy, etc of another person or group
-
(tr) psychol to integrate or harmonize the aims, practices, etc of a group
-
(usually foll by with) psychol to identify with or match the behaviour, thoughts, etc of another person
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
alignsimple
-
alignssimple
-
have alignedperfect
-
has alignedperfect
-
am aligningprogressive
-
are aligningprogressive
-
is aligningprogressive
-
have been aligningperfect progressive
-
has been aligningperfect progressive
Past
-
alignedsimple
-
had alignedperfect
-
was aligningprogressive
-
were aligningprogressive
-
had been aligningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of align
First recorded in 1685–95; from French aligner, equivalent to a- “toward” + ligner, from Latin līneāre, derivative of līnea “line”; see origin at a- 5, line 1
Explanation
To align means to bring something into a straight line, or an easy agreement. If you always park on an angle and people are leaving mean notes on your windshield, learn to align the car with the parking space. Align comes from the French a, meaning "to" and ligne meaning "line," and it means to bring something into line with something else. This can be literal. If you are hanging a painting, you'll want to align it with the window frame. The line can also be metaphorical. If you run for office, your political opinions will need to be aligned with those of your supporters.
Vocabulary lists containing align
The Crossover
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Excerpt from "The Philosophy of Literary Form" by Kenneth Burke
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Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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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.
See Examples For:
“They are not just looking for what party to align with. They want to know that they can trust the person they’re voting for,” Rottinghaus said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
“This is one area we’re not quite confident in,” Pinkerton said as we watched the robot attempt to align a glass on the dishwasher’s prongs with motions suggestive of a claw-machine arm.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
O’Donnell is working to align everyone involved in Nascar races—team owners, track owners, media partners, car manufacturers and sponsors—around a growth plan called Project 2032.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
But occasionally circumstances align to allow that to happen again.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
The walls here are completely mirrored, each long mirror placed to align with the striped ceiling visible above and the floor that is painted to match.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
At Notre Dame, Sullivan leads Delta, a Christian-rooted AI ethics initiative whose work aligns with Pope Leo’s May encyclical, “Magnifica humanitas.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026
But CoreWeave’s existence aligns with Nvidia’s interests so closely that it is hard to imagine it wouldn’t step in if the need arose.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
For Samantha, she said what makes headlines rarely aligns with her own experience at Burning Man.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
The issue for OpenAI, Anthropic and other tech giants is that no one seems to have cracked the so-called alignment problem - in other words, whether AI aligns with human values.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
I watch as she aligns her two yellow pencils.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Just as a person's left and right hands are mirror images that cannot be perfectly aligned, some molecules can exist in two forms that have identical chemical components but different three-dimensional arrangements.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
In each case, she said the packages contained secondary measures that aligned with her constituents’ values.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
Nixon is a member of the progressive group but has said she is not completely aligned with all of the group’s policies.
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026
EssilorLuxottica confirmed its five-year guidance of solid growth in total revenue and broadly aligned increases in adjusted operating profit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
And I was still struggling to figure out how to be social in a way that aligned with my faith.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
But later, the task of aligning a small knife into the utensil basket proved to be another challenge.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
My happiness in flight comes from aligning my will to the pilot’s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Perhaps the most difficult hurdle has been aligning the event with Netflix's preference to broadcast during prime-time hours in the United States.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Evan Hubinger, who leads the division of Anthropic aimed at aligning AI models to human interests, added fuel to concerns this week in a post that substantiated Coxon’s concerns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
His mind is clear, the plans for the museum becoming cohesive, ideas for future projects aligning themselves in ways that seem completely manageable.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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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.
