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Abreast vs Across - What's the difference?

abreast | across |

As adverbs the difference between abreast and across

is that abreast is side by side, facing forward while across is from one side to the other.

As prepositions the difference between abreast and across

is that abreast is abreast of; alongside while across is to, toward or from the far side of (something that lies between two points of interest).

As an adjective abreast

is side by side, facing forward .

As a noun across is

(crosswords) a clue whose solution runs horizontally in the grid.

abreast

English

Alternative forms

* (l)

Adverb

(en adverb)
  • Side by side, facing forward.
  • *
  • *
  • (figurative) Alongside; parallel to.
  • Informed, well-informed, familiar, acquainted.
  • Up to a certain level or line; equally advanced; as, to keep abreast of [or with] the present state of science.
  • (nautical) Side by side; also, opposite; over against; on a line with the vessel's beam.
  • (obsolete): At the same time; simultaneously
  • *
  • Usage notes

    * (nautical) Abreast is followed by the word of . * (alongside) Abreast is followed by with' or ' of . * (informed) Abreast is followed by with' or ' of . * (up to a certain level) Abreast is followed by with' or ' of .

    Synonyms

    * (informed)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Side by side, facing forward.
  • (figurative) Alongside; parallel to.
  • Informed, well-informed, familiar, acquainted.
  • Up to a certain level or line; equally advanced; as, to keep abreast of [or with] the present state of science.
  • (nautical) Side by side; also, opposite; over against; on a line with the vessel's beam.
  • Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Abreast of; alongside.
  • This ship sank abreast the island.

    References

    Anagrams

    *

    across

    English

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • To, toward or from the far side of (something that lies between two points of interest).
  • On the opposite side of (something that lies between two points of interest).
  • (Southern US, AAVE)  On the opposite side, relative to something that lies between, from (a point of interest).
  • * 1994 June 21, Thong P Tong <tongtp@coyote.cig.mot.comcoyote.cig.mot.com>, "Re: Battle Tech Center", message-ID <2u7lsi$79n@delphinium.cig.mot.com>, comp.sys.ibm.pc.games , Usenet [http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.ibm.pc.games/msg/28d5e0700985bbe6]:
  • And make sure you're parked across the mall in the outside lot. Last time I was there, I parked in a parking structure and paid an arm and a leg for it.
  • * 1995 , (Ronald Kessler), Inside the White House , 1996 edition, ISBN 0671879197, page 243 [http://books.google.com/books?id=lJz-yIZNE2sC&pg=PA243&dq=across]:
  • On another occasion, Clinton asked to drive him to Chelsea's school, Booker Elementary, where Clinton met the department store clerk and climbed into her car.
    "I parked across the entrance and stood outside the car looking around, about 120 feet from where they were parked in a lot that was pretty well lit," Patterson recalled. "They stayed in the car for thirty to forty minutes."
  • From one side to the other within (a space being traversed).
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.}}
  • At or near the far end of (a space).
  • * 2004 , (Josephine Cox), Lovers and Liars , ISBN 0060525479, page 78 [http://books.google.com/books?id=MSZf-siTBGUC&pg=PA78&dq=across]:
  • "Mam's baking and Cathleen's asleep. I've got a pile of washing bubbling in the copper, so I'd best be off." With that she was across the room and out the door.
  • Spanning.
  • Throughout.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April, author=Anna Lena Phillips, volume=100, issue=2, page=172
  • , magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Sneaky Silk Moths , passage=Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author= Chico Harlan
  • , volume=189, issue=2, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Japan pockets the subsidy … , passage=Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion."}}
  • So as to intersect or pass through or over at an angle.
  • * 2010 , (Alex Bledsoe), The Girls with Games of Blood , , ISBN 9780765323842, page 147 [http://books.google.com/books?id=3O878YujdCEC&pg=PA147&dq=across]:
  • He parked across the end of the driveway, blocking her in.

    Derived terms

    * across-the-board * come across * get across * put across * put one across * run across

    Adverb

    (-)
  • From one side to the other.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Welcome to the plastisphere , passage=[The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across . Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […].}}
  • On the other side.
  • In a particular direction.
  • (crosswords) Horizontally.
  • Noun

    (es)
  • (crosswords) A clue whose solution runs horizontally in the grid.
  • I solved all of the acrosses , but then got stuck on 3 down.

    Statistics

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