Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

4 ADV [ADV after v] If you say that something is going along in a particular way, you mean that it is progressing in that way. □  …the negotiations which have been dragging along interminably. □  My life is going along nicely.

5 ADV [ADV after v] If you take someone or something along when you go somewhere, you take them with you. □  This is open to women of all ages, so bring along your friends and colleagues.

6 ADV [ADV after v] If someone or something is coming along or is sent along , they are coming or being sent to a particular place. □  She invited everyone she knew to come along.

7 PHRASE You use along with to mention someone or something else that is also involved in an action or situation. □  The baby's mother escaped from the fire along with two other children.

8 PHRASE If something has been true or been present all along , it has been true or been present throughout a period of time. □  I've been fooling myself all along.

9along the way → see way

along|side ◆◇◇ /əlɒ ŋsa I d, [AM ] -lɔː ŋ-/

1 PREP If one thing is alongside another thing, the first thing is next to the second. □  He crossed the street and walked alongside Central Park. □  Much of the industry was located alongside rivers. ● ADV [ADV after v] Alongside is also an adverb. □  He waited several minutes for a car to pull up alongside.

2 PREP If you work alongside other people, you all work together in the same place. □  He had worked alongside Frank and Mark and they had become friends.

3 PREP If one thing exists or develops alongside another, the two things exist or develop together at the same time. □  Her self-confidence will develop alongside her technique.

aloof /əluː f/

1 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] Someone who is aloof is not very friendly and does not like to spend time with other people. [DISAPPROVAL ] □  He seemed aloof and detached.

2 ADJ If someone stays aloof from something, they do not become involved with it. [FORMAL ] □ [+ from ] The Government is keeping aloof from the controversy.

aloud /əlaʊ d/

1 ADV [ADV after v] When you say something, read, or laugh aloud , you speak or laugh so that other people can hear you. □  When we were children, our father read aloud to us. □  'You fool,' he said aloud.

2 PHRASE If you think aloud , you express your thoughts as they occur to you, rather than thinking first and then speaking.

al|paca /ælpæ kə/ (alpacas )

1 N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Alpaca is a type of soft wool. □  …a light-grey alpaca suit.

2 N‑COUNT Alpacas are South American animals similar to llamas. Their hair is the source of alpaca wool.

al|pha|bet /æ lfəbet/ (alphabets ) N‑COUNT An alphabet is a set of letters usually presented in a fixed order which is used for writing the words of a particular language or group of languages. □  The modern Russian alphabet has 31 letters. □  By two and a half he knew the alphabet.

al|pha|beti|cal /æ lfəbe t I k ^ə l/ ADJ [ADJ n] Alphabetical means arranged according to the normal order of the letters in the alphabet. □  Their herbs and spices are arranged in alphabetical order. ●  al|pha|beti|cal|ly /æ lfəbe t I kli/ ADV □  The catalog is organized alphabetically by label name.

al|pine /æ lpa I n/ (alpines )

1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Alpine means existing in or relating to mountains, especially the ones in Switzerland. □  …grassy, alpine meadows.

2 N‑COUNT Alpines are small flowering plants that grow high up on mountains and are sometimes grown in gardens. There are many different types of alpines.

al|ready ◆◆◆ /ɔː lre di/