What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Toward vs Along - What's the difference?

toward | along |

As prepositions the difference between toward and along

is that toward is in the direction of while along is by the length of; in a line with the length of; lengthwise next to.

As an adjective toward

is future; to come.

As an adverb along is

in company; together.

toward

English

Preposition

(en-prep) (mainly in American English)
  • In the direction of.
  • :
  • *(Bible), (w) xxiv. 1
  • *:He set his face toward the wilderness.
  • *
  • *:Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
  • In relation to (someone or something).
  • :
  • *(Bible), (w)
  • *:His eye shall be evil toward his brother.
  • For the purpose of attaining (an aim).
  • :
  • Located close to; near (a time or place).
  • :
  • *(Jonathan Swift) (1667–1745)
  • *:I am toward nine years older since I left you.

    • Synonyms

    * towards

    Usage notes

    * Although some have tried to discern a semantic distinction between the words (term) and (towards), the difference is merely dialectal. (term) is more common in American English and (towards) is the predominant form in British English.

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (obsolete) Future; to come.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.iv:
    • ere that wished day his beame disclosd, / He either enuying my toward good, / Or of himselfe to treason ill disposd / One day vnto me came in friendly mood [...].
  • (dated) Approaching, coming near; impending; present, at hand.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Do you hear aught, sir, of a battle toward ?
  • * 1843 , '', book 2, ch. XV, ''Practical — Devotional
    • On the morrow […] orders the Cellerarius to send off his carpenters to demolish the said structure brevi manu , and lay up the wood in safe keeping. Old Dean Herbert, hearing what was toward , comes tottering along hither, to plead humbly for himself and his mill.
  • Yielding, pliant; docile; ready or apt to learn; not froward.
  • (obsolete, or, archaic) Promising, likely; froward.
    • Why, that is spoken like a toward prince. ? Shakespeare.

    Statistics

    * American English

    along

    English

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • By the length of; in a line with the length of; lengthwise next to.
  • * {{quote-book, 1892, Sir (Arthur Conan Doyle), chapter=(The Adventure of the Cooper Beeches), (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes), page=294 citation
    • , passage=They were waiting for me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching along the entire front of the house, with three long windows reaching down to the floor}}
  • * , chapter=3
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Stephen P. Lownie], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/david-m-pelz David M. Pelz
    • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Stents to Prevent Stroke , passage=As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels.}}
  • In a line with, with a progressive motion on; onward on; forward on.
  • * Bible, 1 (w) vi. 12
    • The kinewent along the highway.
  • * {{quote-book, 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, chapter=The Tutor's Daughter, Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page=266 citation
    • , passage=In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.}}
  • * {{quote-book, 1892, Sir (Arthur Conan Doyle), chapter=(The Boscombe Valley Mystery), (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes), page=93 citation
    • , passage=Swiftly and silently he made his way along the track which ran through the meadows.}}
  • * , chapter=13
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall into the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time.}}

    Synonyms

    * alongst (archaic)

    Derived terms

    * alongside * herealong * therealong * wherealong

    Adverb

    (-)
  • In company; together.
  • Onward, forward, with progressive action.
  • * , chapter=1
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}

    Synonyms

    * alongst (archaic)

    Derived terms

    * go along to get along

    Derived terms

    {{der3 , all along , along of , along the lines , along those lines , along with , come along , get along , rock along }}

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * (l), (l), (l), (l) 200 English basic words English prepositions 1000 English basic words