abreast.
Side by side and facing forward.
Meaning & usage
Side by side and facing forward.
Alongside; parallel to.
Informed, well-informed, familiar, acquainted.
Followed by of or with: up to a certain level or line; equally advanced.
She believes it is important to keep abreast of new scientific developments.
Breast high (of an advancing wave).
The west wind blew a tempest, and, according to the common expression, brought in the water [of the Solway] three foot abreast.
Side by side; also, opposite; on a line with the vessel's beam.
At the same time; simultaneously.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English abrest. By surface analysis, a- (“on, at”) + breast, meaning “breasts (chests) in line, side-by-side and exactly equally advanced”; roughly “breast-by-breast”.
Side by side, facing forward.
Alongside; parallel to.
Informed, well-informed, familiar, acquainted.
Up to a certain level or line; equally advanced
to keep abreast of [or with] the present state of science
Side by side; also, opposite; over against; on a line with the vessel's beam.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English abrest. By surface analysis, a- (“on, at”) + breast, meaning “breasts (chests) in line, side-by-side and exactly equally advanced”; roughly “breast-by-breast”.
Abreast of; alongside.
This ship sank abreast the island.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English abrest. By surface analysis, a- (“on, at”) + breast, meaning “breasts (chests) in line, side-by-side and exactly equally advanced”; roughly “breast-by-breast”.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.