alignment

noun

Sayuh-LYN-muhntUK/əˈlaɪn.mənt/AUS/əˈlɑen.mənt/

9 meanings of alignment

1
nouncountable or uncountable
The way things are placed so they form a straight line.
Like soldiers standing in a straight row.
The alignment of the chairs in neat rows made the room look tidy.
She fixed the alignment of the books so their spines formed a straight line.
Similararrangement, positioning
Oppositemisalignment
Note
2
nouncountable or uncountable
Setting the parts of a machine correctly so they fit and work together, or the result of doing that.
Like making sure all the gears of a bike fit together so it rolls smoothly.
The mechanic checked the alignment of the car's wheels.
Poor alignment of the gears made the clock run slow.
Oppositemisalignment
3
nouncountable
An agreement between groups to work together for a shared goal.
Like teams joining forces to beat a stronger opponent.
The two parties formed an alignment to win the vote.
Their political alignment lasted only until the war ended.
Similaralliance, coalition, bloc, union
4
nouncountable
The exact path a road, railway, or trail follows from one place to another.
Like the line you draw on a map to show where a path goes.
Engineers changed the alignment of the new road to avoid the lake.
The railway's alignment curves gently around the hillside.
Similarroute, course
Note
5
nouncountable
When two objects in the sky appear in a straight line from Earth.
Like two clock hands lining up to point the same way.
The alignment of the moon and Venus was easy to see last night.
Stargazers waited for the alignment of the two planets.
Similarconjunction
Note
6
nouncountable
In games, one of the set moral types a character can be, like good or evil.
Like choosing whether your character is a hero or a villain.
She picked a good alignment for her new character.
His alignment changed after the character betrayed his friends.
Note
7
noununcountable
How well an AI's goals and values match what people think is right.
Like training a guard dog to protect people instead of attacking them.
Researchers worry about the alignment of powerful AI systems.
Good alignment means the AI will not harm the people it serves.
Note
8
nouncountable
A way of lining up DNA or protein sequences to find parts that match.
Like placing two lists side by side to see which words are the same.
The alignment showed that the two genes share a long matching section.
Scientists used a computer to build the sequence alignment.
Note
9
nouncountable
The plan showing where a road or canal runs across the ground.
Like a line drawn on a map showing exactly where a road sits.
The alignment on the map showed the canal cutting straight across the valley.
They studied the road's alignment before approving the design.
Similarlayout
Note

Practice

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Origin

From French alignement, made from align plus -ment.