ally

¹al·ly

verb \ə-ˈlī, ˈa-ˌlī\

al·liedal·ly·ing

Definition of ALLY

transitive verb

: to unite or form a connection or relation between : associate <allied himself with a wealthy family by marriage>

intransitive verb

: to form or enter into an alliance <two factions allying with each other>

Examples of ALLY

1. She's allied herself with the moderates on this issue.
2. countries allying themselves with the EU
3. He'll even admit that he's hoping to ally himself to a wealthy family by marriage.
4. They've allied with their former enemies.
5. There may be occasions when America can ally with some of those states, as we did during the Gulf War. —Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review, 15 Oct. 2001
6. Teresa's right to teach, however, would not be vindicated until our time when the late Paul VI named her a doctor of the church. In her own lifetime Teresa had the good sense to ally herself with outstanding supporters such as the observant Franciscan Peter Alcantara and the famous Dominican theologian, Domenico Báñez. —Lawrence S. Cunningham, Commonweal, 28 Jan. 2000
7. The singers ally themselves with a gifted songwriter, and everyone gets some major-label exposure for what just happens to be a splendid album. —Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 13-27 July 1995
8. Generally, however, psychoanalysts do ally themselves with two positions, the first of which is that dreams are meaningful. —Wynn Schwartz, Dreamtime and Dreamwork, 1990

Origin of ALLY

Middle English allien, from Anglo-French alier, from Latin alligare to bind to, from ad- + ligare to bind — more at ligature

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to ALLY

Synonyms: associate, band (together), club, coalesce, cohere, confederate, conjoin, cooperate, federate, league, unite, close ranks, pull together

Antonyms: break up, disband

Related Words: cabal, collaborate, gang up, hang together, team (up); incorporate, organize, unionize; affiliate; amalgamate, combine, conglomerate, consolidate, converge, group, join, merge; knot, link, tie, wed

Near Antonyms: detach, disengage, dissolve, disunite, divorce, part, segregate, separate, sever, split, sunder; alienate, estrange, fall out

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Rhymes with ALLY

aby, agley, air-dry, Alai, Altai, anti, apply, assai, awry, aye-aye, Bacchae, Baha'i, banzai, barfly, bee fly, Belgae, belie, bigeye, big lie, black eye, blackfly, black tie, blow-dry, blowby, blowfly, blue-sky, Bo Hai, bone-dry, bonsai, botfly, Brunei, buckeye, bugeye, bye-bye, canaille, catchfly, cat's-eye, Chennai, chess pie, Chiang Mai, cockeye, cockshy, come by, comply, cow pie, crane fly, cross-eye, deadeye, decry, deep-fry, deep-sky, deerfly, defy, Delphi, deny, descry, do by, dong quai, drip-dry, drop by, dry eye, dry fly, elhi, Eli, espy, face fly, firefly, fish-eye, flesh fly, flyby, fly high, forby, freeze-dry, frogeye, fruit fly, gadfly, gallfly, get by, GI, glass eye, go by, good-bye, greenfly, grisaille, gun-shy, Haggai, Hawkeye, heel fly, hereby, hi-fi, hog-tie, horn fly, horsefly, housefly, imply, jai alai, July, Karzai, Kasai, knee-high, lanai, Lanai, lay-by, lay by, Lehigh, let fly, Levi, lie by, magpie, mai tai, mao-tai, Masai, mayfly, medfly, mind's eye, Moirai, mooneye, Mumbai, my eye, nearby, necktie, nilgai, nisi, outbye, outcry, oxeye, pad thai, Panay, panfry, Parcae, piece-dye, pigsty, pinkeye, Po Hai, pop eye, pop fly, potpie, put by, Qinghai, quasi, rabbi, red-eye, rely, reply, rib eye, ride high, rocaille, rough-dry, run dry, Sakai, sand fly, sci-fi, screw eye, semi, Sendai, serai, set by, shanghai, Shanghai, sheep's eye, shoofly, shut-eye, Sinai, sky-high, small-fry, stand by, standby, stir-fry, string tie, supply, swear by, terai, test-fly, thereby, tie-dye, titi, tongue-tie, Transkei, twist tie, two-ply, untie, vat dye, Versailles, walleye, well-nigh, whereby, whitefly, wild rye, wise guy