Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use abreast in a sentence

16 example sentences · adverb, adjective, preposition

Abreast means side by side and facing forward. Example: “She believes it is important to keep abreast of new scientific developments.”

Examples of abreast by meaning

adverbSide by side and facing forward.

  • On Sunday afternoon it was as dark as night, with barely room for two riders abreast on a gradient that touches 20%.2012 July 15, Richard Williams, “Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track”, in Guardian Unlimited

adverbFollowed 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.

adjectiveUp to a certain level or line; equally advanced.

  • 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.c. 1900, Kate Chopin, A Reflection

adjectiveSide by side; also, opposite; over against; on a line with the vessel's beam.

  • For quotations using this term, see Citations:abreast.

prepositionAbreast of; alongside.

  • This ship sank abreast the island.

More sentences with abreast

  • Do your duty by me! -No, we don't have a duty to keep you abreast.From the entry duty
  • I'd appreciate it so much if you'd keep me abreast of developments.From the entry appreciate
  • Abreast of the first soldier, he too took in the round collar and halted gapemouthed.1984, Fred Saberhagen, Machines That Kill, →ISBN, page 164. From the entry gapemouthed
  • You are not abreast of that side of our activities, are you?1939, P. G. Wodehouse, Uncle Fred in the Springtime. From the entry snitch
  • It's become impossible to keep abreast of all the best-ofs, as labels keep foisting greatest-hits albums on overwhelmed consumers.2000 December, SPIN, volume 16, number 12. From the entry best-of
  • As Kerin came abreast of the reptile, the lizard opened its eyes, looked around, and rose on stumpy legs.1989, L. Sprague de Camp, The Honorable Barbarian, page 45. From the entry fangful
  • The poet was dangerously ill, and when his ship came abreast of Skyros – strange destiny! – he died.1965, Michael Carroll, “Skyros: A Poet’s Grave”, in Gates of the Wind: On the Northern Sporades, London: John Murray, →OCLC; republished…. From the entry Skyriot
  • Five High School boys came down the road abreast.1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC…. From the entry epicene
  • They ranged along abreast of the Snark on either side, pouncing upon the flying-fish her forefoot scared up.1913, Jack London, The Cruise of the "Snark", published 2008, unnumbered page. From the entry scare up
  • By and by I closed up abreast of his tail.1907 December, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “Extract from Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven: Taken from His Own…. From the entry shunt
  • Falling out of line ahead into line abreast does require a bit of skill and some clever handling, but three of the four leading battleships execute it perfectly.2019 September 18, Drachinifel, 12:24 from the start, in Battle of Tsushima - When the 2nd Pacific Squadron thought it couldn't get any…. From the entry line abreast

Meaning of abreast

  1. adverb Side by side and facing forward.
  2. adverb Alongside; parallel to.
  3. adverb Informed, well-informed, familiar, acquainted.

Full definition of abreast

Questions about abreast in a sentence

How do you use abreast in a sentence?
Abreast is used as an adverb, adjective and preposition. For example: “She believes it is important to keep abreast of new scientific developments.”
What is a short sentence with abreast?
“This ship sank abreast the island.”
What does abreast mean?
Abreast means side by side and facing forward.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: abreast (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use abreast in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/abreast. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.