share and share alike
share and share alike noun: for members of a group, equal portions of or equal access to tangible or intangible goods, entitlements, or obligations—i.e., each person's share like each of the other shares. Often used in a context of reciprocity, or pooling resources.
Noun
share and share alike (uncountable)
- For members of a group, equal portions of or equal access to tangible or intangible goods, entitlements, or obligations—i.e., each person's share like each of the other shares. Often used in a context of reciprocity, or pooling resources.
- [E]xquisite beauty is rarely given with wit, more rarely with goodness of temper, and never at all with modesty. And some, pretending to justify the equity of such a distribution, will tell us it is the effect of the justice of Providence in dividing particular excellences among all His creatures...1697, Daniel Defoe, “Of Academies”, in An Essay Upon Projects
- "I can tell stories and sing and sell more goods than any one has any idea of. Besides that, I’ve got a new corn salve I put up myself which goes like hot cakes. Barberry’s Lightning Salve, I call it — my name is Paul Barberry, you know — Dr. Barberry, most of ’em call me. Say the word, and I’ll go...1897, Edward Stratemeyer, chapter 13, in Young Auctioneers; or, the polishing of a Rolling Stone
- Equal rights to or equal portions of profits, assets, bequests, or other valuable items legally owed to investors, partners, beneficiaries, or other named associates. If one beneficiary is unable to benefit (for instance, if they have died), their share is divided among the others.
- "And your father and mine have purchased all this land in company, you say—share and share alike, as the lawyers call it."1845, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 4, in Satanstoe
- [O]n his decease, the principal to be equally divided between Peggotty, little Emily, and me, or the survivor or survivors of us, share and share alike.1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 31, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC
Verb
share and share alike (third-person singular simple present shares and shares alike, present participle sharing and sharing alike, simple past and past participle shared and shared alike)
- To divide possessions, benefits, or obligations equally among members of a group.
- "Our money will soon be gone at that rate," said Jack soberly. "Mine is already gone."
"No, it isn't, Jack. We are going to share and share alike, you know."1893, Horatio Alger, chapter 3, in In A New World: Among the Gold Fields of Australia - To be sure, until now they had always shared and shared alike, but here was the first great lump of good-luck that had ever fallen in his way, and he was not for spoiling it by cutting it in two to give half to a poor beggar-man such as his brother.1895, Howard Pyle, “Much shall have more and little shall have less”, in Twilight Land
- "Our money will soon be gone at that rate," said Jack soberly. "Mine is already gone."
Examples of share and share alike in a sentence
- Say the word, and I’ll go with you and put up my salve against your outfit, and we’ll share and share alike."1897, Edward Stratemeyer, chapter 13, in Young Auctioneers; or, the polishing of a Rolling Stone:
- "No, no, share and share alike," he cried.1898, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 8, in The Tragedy of the Korosko:
- Very much a case of share and share alike."1919, Pat Beauchamp, chapter 3, in Fanny goes to War (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry):
- Share and share alike, they lived and worked and wrangled together like brothers.1921, B. M. Bower, chapter 1, in Sawtooth Ranch:
Forms of share and share alike
| third-person singular present | shares and shares alike |
|---|---|
| present participle | sharing and sharing alike |
| past participle | shared and shared alike |
| past | shared and shared alike |
Questions about share and share alike
- What does share and share alike mean?
- Share and share alike means for members of a group, equal portions of or equal access to tangible or intangible goods, entitlements, or obligations—i.e., each person's share like each of the other shares. Often used in a context of reciprocity, or pooling resources.
- How do you use share and share alike in a sentence?
- Say the word, and I’ll go with you and put up my salve against your outfit, and we’ll share and share alike."
- What part of speech is share and share alike?
- Share and share alike can be a noun or a verb.
Words near share and share alike in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: share and share alike (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-share and share alike.ogg.
Cite this entry: “share and share alike.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/share_and_share_alike. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.