align
Americanverb (used with object)
-
aligns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
aligned,
past participle, past
-
aligning
present participle
-
to arrange in a straight line; adjust according to a line.
- Synonyms:
- straighten
-
to bring into a line or alignment.
- Synonyms:
- straighten
-
to bring into cooperation or agreement with a particular group, party, cause, etc..
He aligned himself with the liberals.
-
to adjust (two or more components of an electronic circuit) to improve the response over a frequency band, as to align the tuned circuits of a radio receiver for proper tracking throughout its frequency range, or a television receiver for appropriate wide-band responses.
verb (used without object)
-
aligns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
aligned,
past participle, past
-
aligning
present participle
-
to fall or come into line; be in line.
-
to join with others in a cause.
verb
-
to place or become placed in a line
-
to bring (components or parts, such as the wheels of a car) into proper or desirable coordination or relation
-
to bring (a person, country, etc) into agreement or cooperation with the policy, etc of another person or group
-
(tr) psychol to integrate or harmonize the aims, practices, etc of a group
-
(usually foll by with) psychol to identify with or match the behaviour, thoughts, etc of another person
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
alignsimple
-
alignssimple
-
have alignedperfect
-
has alignedperfect
-
am aligningprogressive
-
are aligningprogressive
-
is aligningprogressive
-
have been aligningperfect progressive
-
has been aligningperfect progressive
Past
-
alignedsimple
-
had alignedperfect
-
was aligningprogressive
-
were aligningprogressive
-
had been aligningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of align
First recorded in 1685–95; from French aligner, equivalent to a- “toward” + ligner, from Latin līneāre, derivative of līnea “line”; see origin at a- 5, line 1
Explanation
To align means to bring something into a straight line, or an easy agreement. If you always park on an angle and people are leaving mean notes on your windshield, learn to align the car with the parking space. Align comes from the French a, meaning "to" and ligne meaning "line," and it means to bring something into line with something else. This can be literal. If you are hanging a painting, you'll want to align it with the window frame. The line can also be metaphorical. If you run for office, your political opinions will need to be aligned with those of your supporters.
Vocabulary lists containing align
The Crossover
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Excerpt from "The Philosophy of Literary Form" by Kenneth Burke
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Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"It's one of the most challenging situations for coaches when you have many talented players but you are trying to align everyone on the same page and achieve something big," said Maestre.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
A workforce adjustment of around 50,000 positions worldwide is planned though, to align capacity with market demand, technological change and competitive pressures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
That’s not to say that independents aren’t well supported; most of them align in some way with a larger custodian for those sorts of things.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
"If the political will and financing align, it is doable in the short term," Larochelle told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
When observation fails to align with a truth, what do you trust—your senses or your truth?
From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said the 143 trillion yen sum, equivalent to $917.85 billion, aligns with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s push to reduce dependence on supplementary budgets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
StoneX analyst Yi Fu Lee told MarketWatch that the new disclosure framework is “long overdue” and aligns better with how the company is operating in the AI era.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
"What I care about is whether the legislation meets the nation's needs -- whether it aligns with our indigenous defence strategy and the various requirements for developing our drone and unmanned vehicle industries," Cho said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
They said that being on-site aligns with the idea of managing community-based organizations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
I watch as she aligns her two yellow pencils.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Using precise measurements of each galaxy's redshift, they aligned the weak signals and stacked them together.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
"That's the most important thing, and on the management and leadership level that we're all aligned and all speaking the same language."
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
While I’d sooner take life advice from my golden retriever than a chatbot, my parents aligned with their contemporaries in treating Claude as a Google substitute.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
The controversial commercial reached the top levels of golf as PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp condemned the ad Tuesday, calling it “concerning” and “clearly not aligned with PGA Tour values.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
The closets were full of suits, dozens of them perfectly aligned from lightest gray to darkest black.
From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green
"What Egypt is seeking is strategic autonomy: not breaking with Washington, not aligning completely with Beijing, but creating enough room to pursue its own national interests," he added.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
His obsessive court rituals — including meticulously aligning his water bottles and executing his precise pre-point routines — were not merely superstitions, but coping mechanisms in a high-stress, solitary sport.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
From the jump, it’s hard to shake the feeling that “Tony” is mistakenly aligning itself with the public’s idea of Bourdain rather than the man’s reality.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
There are pitfalls to aligning too closely however, as Reading and Charlton Athletic have previously discovered.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Once it reached the port's retractor mechanism, the automated system clamped on to the boom and pulled it in, aligning and orienting the probe automatically.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
