ALIGN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does align mean? 

• ALIGN (verb)
  The verb ALIGN has 4 senses:

1. place in a line or arrange so as to be parallel or straight

2. be or come into adjustment with

3. align oneself with a group or a way of thinking

4. bring (components or parts) into proper or desirable coordination correlation

  Familiarity information: ALIGN used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ALIGN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they align    ... he / she / it aligns   
Past simple: aligned   
Past participle: aligned   
-ing form: aligning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

adjust; align; aline; line up

Context example:

align the sheets of paper on the table

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:

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)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Align oneself with a group or a way of thinking

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

align; array

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:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

align; coordinate; ordinate

Context example:

ordinate similar parts

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)

 Context examples 

These streaks appear to be aligned in the same direction and may have been produced by winds blowing across the frozen surface.

(New Horizons Discovers Frozen Plains in the Heart of Pluto’s ‘Heart’, NASA)

In vertebrates, cells derived from stem cells, called myoblasts, first align with each other and come so close as to eventually touch and compress their cell membranes.

(Researchers Discovered Proteins Essential to Development of Skeletal Muscle, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Jupiter's magnetic axis, like Earth's, is not aligned with its rotational axis.

(Scientists Finally Know What Time It Is on Saturn, NASA)

The eight quasars and galaxies were aligned so precisely that the warping effect, called gravitational lensing, produced four distorted images of each quasar.

(Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Find Dark Matter in Small Clumps, NASA)

Directly after the eclipse and influencing it, will come the Luckiest Day of the Year, December 27, a day the Sun and Jupiter will align perfectly.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

By aligning the time-based MEG results with higher resolution fMRI data, they were able to pinpoint specific brain areas involved in object-based attention.

(How the brain pays attention to faces and places, NIH)

The findings align with the idea that, hundreds of millions (up to a billion) years ago, materials beneath Ceres' surface pushed upward toward the exterior, creating fractures in the crust.

(Dawn Explores Ceres' Interior Evolution, NASA)

A surface formed by circles of a given radius that are contained in a plane perpendicular to a given axis, whose centers align on the axis.

(Cylinder, NCI Thesaurus)

The arrangement of text so that it is aligned with either the left or right margin, or both.

(Justification, NCI Thesaurus)

A type of fetal presentation where the fetal spine is aligned along the longitudinal axis of the uterus and descends into the birth canal during delivery.

(Longitudinal Fetal Presentation, NCI Thesaurus)