From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishaligna‧lign /əˈlaɪn/ ●○○ verb 1 [transitive]UNITE to publicly support a political group, country, or person that you agree withalign yourself with somebody/something Church leaders have aligned themselves with the opposition. a country closely aligned with the West2 ARRANGE A GROUP OF THINGS OR PEOPLE[intransitive, transitive] to arrange things so that they form a line or are parallel to each other, or to be in a position that forms a line etc The desks were neatly aligned in rows. Make sure that all the holes align.3 [transitive] to organize or change something so that it has the right relationship to something elsebe aligned with something This policy is closely aligned with the goals of the organization.Grammar Align is usually passive in this meaning.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
align• You want to see how defenses align against your particular formation and see how they respond to a particular play.• When I get the two magnets properly aligned on either side of the pad, see how they move in unison?• All adjoining panels should be pressed evenly together ensuring all the panels are aligned squarely to each other.• Overhead the beautiful stars flickered and aligned themselves into patterns.• When lava solidifies, its tiny ferrous particles align themselves, like magnetic needles, with the earth's magnetic field.• More than 50 seats were won by independents, many of whom are closely aligned with Mr Khatami's conservative foes.closely aligned• Love and pity are closely aligned, didn't you know?• Deng closely aligned himself with this stance.• After their father's death, it was Louis whose interests proved more closely aligned to Charles's.• Again, this is where sculpture is closely aligned to social and political history.• More than 50 seats were won by independents, many of whom are closely aligned with Mr Khatami's conservative foes.closely aligned• Love and pity are closely aligned, didn't you know?• Deng closely aligned himself with this stance.• After their father's death, it was Louis whose interests proved more closely aligned to Charles's.• Again, this is where sculpture is closely aligned to social and political history.• More than 50 seats were won by independents, many of whom are closely aligned with Mr Khatami's conservative foes.Origin align (1400-1500) French aligner, from ligne “line” 