along
/əˈlɒŋ/ preposition, adverb
- preposition By the length of; in a line with the length of; lengthwise next to. “Water whished along the boat as we rowed upstream.”
- preposition In a line with, with a progressive motion on; onward on; forward on.
- adverb In company; together. “John played the piano and everyone sang along.”
- adverb Onward, forward, with progressive action. “Don't stop here. Just move along.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English, from Old English andlang, from prefix and- + lang (“long”). Doublet of endlong.
Webster’s 1913
- adverb By the length; in a line with the length; lengthwise.
- adverb In a line, or with a progressive motion; onward; forward.
- preposition By the length of, as distinguished from across. "Along the lowly lands." Dryden.
- (Now heard only in the prep. phrase along of.) Along of, Along on, often shortened to Long of, prep. phr., owing to; on account of. [Obs. or Low. Eng.] "On me is not along thin evil fare." Chaucer.
Etymology [OE. along, anlong, AS. andlang, along; pref. and- (akin to OFris. ond-, OHG. ant-, Ger. ent-, Goth. and-, anda-, L. ante, Gr. anti, over against) + lang long. See Long.]
Etymology [AS. gelang owing to.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “along”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details