at the same time

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at the same time

1. At the same instant.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:simultaneously

   Their departures were at the same time.

   They departed at the same time.

   • 1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC:

     I bid him come towards me and give me his letter, at the same time throwing down, carelessly, a book I had in my hands.

2. Overlapping or coinciding in duration.

   Synonyms: simultaneously, therewhile, meanwhile

   I'm working. But at the same time, I'm exercising too.

   His service as chairman was at the same time as his board membership

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence.

   • 2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

     At the same time, it is pouring money into cleaning up the country.

3. (sentence adverb) On the other hand (introducing an opposing viewpoint).

   Synonyms: conversely, on the other hand, then again, meanwhile, nevertheless, yet

   Antonyms: additionally, likewise, similarly, equally