Abreast
/əˈbɹɛst/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
advSide by side and facing forward.
advAlongside; parallel to.
Sentence Examples
Doctors should keep abreast of all the latest developments in medicine.
Doctors should keep abreast with all the latest developments in medicine.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The soldiers marched ____ of each other in perfect formation down the street.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He tried to keep ____ of the latest developments in technology.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English abrest. By surface analysis, a- (“on, at”) + breast, meaning “breasts (chests) in line, side-by-side and exactly equally advanced”; roughly “breast-by-breast”.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"The only path was narrow and rugged: two men could hardly walk abreast;"
— 1859, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second:
"Abreast therewith began a convocation."
— 1842, Thomas Fuller, The Church History of Britain, From the birth of Jesus Christ until the year MDCXLVIII., 3rd edition, volume 1, page 412:
"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."
— c. 1900, Kate Chopin, A Reflection:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The soldiers marched ____ of each other in perfect formation down the street.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He tried to keep ____ of the latest developments in technology.