diff --git a/Doc/library/threading.rst b/Doc/library/threading.rst
index 31f1b0e..33cae1e 100644
--- a/Doc/library/threading.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/threading.rst
@@ -310,8 +310,8 @@
 
       Return whether the thread is alive.
 
-      Roughly, a thread is alive from the moment the :meth:`start` method
-      returns until its :meth:`run` method terminates. The module function
+      This method returns ``True`` just before the :meth:`run` method starts
+      until just after the :meth:`run` method terminates.  The module function
       :func:`.enumerate` returns a list of all alive threads.
 
    .. attribute:: daemon