Word Confusion: Allée vs Alley vs Ally

Plural: allées

Plural: alleys

Alternative spelling: ally (when referring to marbles)

Plural for the noun: allies
Gerund: allying

Third person present verb: allies
Past tense or past participle: allied
Present participle: allying

Variant spelling of alley

• A path or drive bordered by identical trees or bushes

• A path lined with trees, bushes, or stones
• [Bowling] Long, narrow area in which games such as bowling are played
  • [Often plural] A building for bowling
• [Tennis; North American] Either of the two areas of the court between the doubles sideline and the singles or service sideline
• [Baseball] The area between the outfielders in left center or right center field

A narrow back street

[Rare] An aisle

A large toy marble made of marble, alabaster, or glass ²

• A person or organization that cooperates with or helps another in a particular activity
• [the Allies] A group of nations taking military action together, in particular the countries that fought with the US in World War I and World War II

[Biology] A plant, animal, or other organism bearing an evolutionary relationship to another, often as a member of the same family

A person who associates or cooperates with another

• Supporter

Suffix:
[-ally] Forms adverbs from adjectives which end in -al ²

Verb, intransitive:
To enter into an alliance ³

• Join
• Unite

Verb, transitive:
[Usually followed by with or to] To unite formally, as by treaty, league, marriage, or the like ³

To associate or connect by some mutual relationship, as resemblance or friendship

The house is intended to be viewed at the far end of a huge double allée of beeches.

I’d love an allée of trees that formed a canopy over the driveway.

He drove his motorbike down the alley.

If you like Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock, Patricia Briggs’ and Ilona Andrews’ series may be right up your alley.

We found the litter of kittens in the alley.

He was murdered in an alley and hidden behind a dumpster.

Let’s meet up at the bowling alley.

He made a sharp right turn and faced a blind alley in dismay.

Tin Pan Alley was the commercial side of popular music.

“An alley can be a marble made of alabaster, but it can also be another term for a shooter or taw, the large marble used to knock around the smaller ones” (Lammle)

He was forced to dismiss his closest political ally.

The United States, Britain, France, and Russia were the major allies during World War II.

The squash is an ally of the watermelon.

Suffix:
“Oh, yes,” Evan said with a laugh, “I’d say he was angry. Look at how he signed off on his email: ‘Infernally yours’.”

Ironically, if he’d done as his wife suggested, he’d still have a job.

The community remained firm and the government tactically retreated.

You must radically change the way you do business.

Verb, intransitive:
The US allied with Canada in World War II.

Several tribes allied to fend off the invaders.

There were two factions allying with each other.

Verb, transitive:
Russia allied itself to France.

Italy allied itself with Germany during World War II.

We need to ally economic freedom with personal liberty.

1. Late Middle English from the Old French alee meaning walking or passage, which is from aler meaning go, which is itself from the Latin ambulare to walk.
2. Early 18th century. Perhaps as a diminutive of alabaster.

1. Middle English and partly via the Old French alie meaning allied.
2. Unknown.
3. Middle English from the Old French alier, which is from the Latin alligare meaning bind together, from ad- (to) + ligare (to bind).