Etymology 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”.
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:
Etymology 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”.
to keep abreast of [or with] the present state of science
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:
5
Nautical, Transport Side by side; also, opposite; over against; on a line with the vessel's beam.
For quotations using this term, see Citations:abreast.
abreast
prep
Etymology 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”.