abreast
- adverb
- /əˈbrɛst/
- Some magazines he read just to keep himself abreast, as he said, of what the dogs were up to.
- walk abreast
- stand abreast
- two abreast
Examples
-
We came abreast of the naked natives in an eerie slow-motion silence.
Fiction book (1994) -
Millet kept abreast of Sensier's weekly articles and occasionally gave more advice.
Academic text (2007) -
The crowd starts walking abreast to the vessels.
Fiction book (1992) -
We have chosen to have them walking four men abreast, A suitable width for most roads.
-
Try it on a nice July morning, and it's two blocks of cyclists abreast.
Blog text (6) -
Shorten sail until the other ships come abreast.
-
They've come abreast of the checkpoint, which can be seen in the distance through the trees.
Fiction book (2002) -
The sidewalk was wide enough for two people to walk abreast without bumping into each other.
-
Two cyclists rode abreast along the quiet country road, enjoying the view together.
-
As the parade moved forward, the dancers stayed abreast, performing in sync with each other.
Synonyms
Next to each other in the same place
Standing very close together in a row or group
Next to someone or something, side by side
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Abreast comes from old parts a- 'at' and breast 'chest', where it meant being 'at the chest' of another person or ship — that is, side by side and facing the same way. That's why we still use abreast to describe people, runners, or ships moving 'side by side'.