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abreast

Pronunciation: /əˈbɹɛst/

The English word “abreast” has 11 meanings listed here.

adverb

  1. Side by side and facing forward.
  2. Alongside; parallel to.
  3. Informed, well-informed, familiar, acquainted.
  4. Followed by of or with: up to a certain level or line; equally advanced.
  5. Breast high (of an advancing wave).
  6. Side by side; also, opposite; on a line with the vessel's beam.
  7. At the same time; simultaneously.

adjective

  1. Side by side, facing forward.
  2. Up to a certain level or line; equally advanced
  3. Side by side; also, opposite; over against; on a line with the vessel's beam.

preposition

  1. Abreast of; alongside.

Etymology

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 are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.