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.
He stepped out of a convertible alongside Julie and performed "Richer than Elon" -- a song that satirizes the SpaceX executive, who is the wealthiest man in the world.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
The former Greater Mancherster mayor will appear on the programme alongside friend Steve Rotheram, the Labour mayor of the Liverpool City Region.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
The talking animals feel right at home alongside the human figures and the voice work is excellent all around.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
“So we’ve redesigned them to make them easier to discover and clearer to set, alongside a new policy that keeps requests reasonable, with no surprises.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
Mawuli came alongside her and lowered his head, and she took out two huge orange pawpaws.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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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.
