Library / English Dictionary

ALIGN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Place in a line or arrange so as to be parallel or straight

Example:

align the sheets of paper on the table

Synonyms:

adjust; align; aline; line up

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "align" is one way to...):

reorient (set or arrange in a new or different determinate position)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "align"):

address (adjust and aim (a golf ball) at in preparation of hitting)

synchronise; synchronize (cause to indicate the same time or rate)

realign; realine (align anew or better)

true; true up (make level, square, balanced, or concentric)

collimate (adjust the line of sight of (an optical instrument))

concenter; concentre; focalise; focalize; focus (bring into focus or alignment; to converge or cause to converge; of ideas or emotions)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

skew (turn or place at an angle)

Derivation:

alignment (the spatial property possessed by an arrangement or position of things in a straight line or in parallel lines)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Bring (components or parts) into proper or desirable coordination correlation

Example:

ordinate similar parts

Synonyms:

align; coordinate; ordinate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "align" is one way to...):

adjust; correct; set (alter or regulate so as to achieve accuracy or conform to a standard)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "align"):

misalign (align imperfectly or badly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

alignment (the act of adjusting or aligning the parts of a device in relation to each other)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Align oneself with a group or a way of thinking

Synonyms:

align; array

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "align" is one way to...):

stand (have or maintain a position or stand on an issue)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "align"):

fall in line (agree on (a position))

side (take sides for or against)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

alignment (an organization of people (or countries) involved in a pact or treaty)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Be or come into adjustment with

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "align" is one way to...):

agree; check; correspond; fit; gibe; jibe; match; tally (be compatible, similar or consistent; coincide in their characteristics)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

alignment (the act of adjusting or aligning the parts of a device in relation to each other)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A fetal position during delivery in which the spine of the fetus is not aligned with the mother's resulting in the descent into the birth canal in an oblique position.

(Oblique Fetal Presentation, NCI Thesaurus)

An artery that branches from the medial occipital artery that aligns with the calcarine sulcus.

(Calcarine Artery, NCI Thesaurus)

Pre-diagnosis diets that most closely aligned with ACS dietary recommendations were associated with a 22% lower risk of all-cause mortality compared to those on the other end of the spectrum.

(Healthy Diets Have Better Impact on Colorectal Cancer, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

If aligned well enough with Earth, these beams act like a lighthouse beacon — appearing to flash on and off as the pulsar rotates.

(NuSTAR Helps Find Universe's Brightest Pulsars, NASA)

Class 1 stars, on the other hand, tended to be closer together at around 200 AU and weren't aligned with their 'egg's' axis.

(Our Sun Could Have Been Born With an Evil Twin Called "Nemesis", The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Gravitational microlensing occurs when the gravity of a foreground star bends and amplifies the light of a background star that momentarily aligns with it.

(Hubble Finds Planet Orbiting Pair of Stars, NASA)

"We did not expect to find the magnetic field to be aligned with the wind over such a large area."

(Galactic Wind Provides Clues to Evolution of Galaxies, NASA)

The act of adjusting or aligning objects in relation to each other; the result of this activity.

(Alignment, NCI Thesaurus)

A right-handed spiral conformation; the a-helix has a pitch of 5.4 A and has 3.6 amino acid residues per turn; every main chain C=O and N-H group is hydrogen-bonded to a peptide bond 4 residues away; the peptide planes are roughly parallel with the helix axis and the dipoles within the helix are aligned, i.e. all C=O groups point in the same direction and all N-H groups point the other way; side chains point outward from helix axis and are generally oriented towards its amino-terminal end.

(Alpha Helix, NCI Thesaurus)

The Center serves as the focus for all of Duke University's activities in cancer, a single entity that integrates and aligns patient care and research with the goals of improving patient outcomes, decreasing the burden of cancer and accelerating scientific progress.

(Duke Cancer Institute, NCI Thesaurus)