''abreast'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''abreast'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260313192153-00-⌔

abreast - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Adverb

abreast (not comparable)

• Side by side and facing forward. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470.)]¹
  • ✤ Hyponym: neck and neck (as horses racing)
  • ✤ Coordinate term: tandem
  • ✤ On Sunday afternoon it was as dark as night, with barely room for two riders abreast on a gradient that touches 20%.²
  • ✤ The only path was narrow and rugged: two men could hardly walk abreast;³
• (figurative) Alongside; parallel to. [First attested in the mid 17${}^{th}$ century.]¹
• Informed, well-informed, familiar, acquainted. [First attested in the mid 17${}^{th}$ century.]¹
• Followed by of or with: up to a certain level or line; equally advanced. [First attested in the mid 17${}^{th}$ century.]¹
  • ✤ She believes it is important to keep abreast of new scientific developments.
• (Scotland) 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.
• (nautical) Side by side; also, opposite; on a line with the vessel’s beam. [First attested in the late 17${}^{th}$ century.]¹
• (obsolete) At the same time; simultaneously.
  • ✤ * Abreast therewith began a convocation.*⁴

Adjective

abreast (not comparable)

• Side by side, facing forward. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470.)]⁵
• (figurative) Alongside; parallel to. [First attested in the mid 17${}^{th}$ century.]⁵
• Informed, well-informed, familiar, acquainted. [First attested in the mid 17${}^{th}$ century.]⁵
• Up to a certain level or line; equally advanced [First attested in the mid 17${}^{th}$ century.]⁵
  • ✤ to keep abreast of [or with] the present state of science
  • ✤ Some people are born with a vital and responsive energy. It not only enables them to keep abreast of the times; it qualifies them to furnish in their own personality a good bit of the motive power to the mad pace.⁶
• (nautical) Side by side; also, opposite; over against; on a line with the vessel’s beam. [First attested in the late 17${}^{th}$ century.]⁵
  • For quotations using this term, see Citations:abreast.

Preposition

abreast

• Abreast of; alongside.⁷
  • ✤ This ship sank abreast the island.

Etymology

From Middle English abrest. By surface analysis, a- (“on, at”) +‎ breast, meaning “breasts (chests) in line, side-by-side and exactly equally advanced”;⁸ roughly “breast-by-breast”.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈbɹɛst/
• Audio (US): 🔊
• Audio (Australian): 🔊
• Rhymes: -ɛst
• Hyphenation: abreast

Printed 2026-06-28.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

1. Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abreast”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 8. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. 2012 July 15, Richard Williams, “Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track”, in Guardian Unlimited ‎${}^{[1]}$: ↩

3. 1859, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second: ↩

4. 1842, Thomas Fuller, The Church History of Britain, From the birth of Jesus Christ until the year MDCXLVIII., 3rd edition, volume 1, page 412: ↩

5. Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abreast”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 8. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

6. c. 1900, Kate Chopin, A Reflection: ↩

7. Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster’s Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], →ISBN), page 5 ↩

8. Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “abreast”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. ↩

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