Sidebar
noun, verb ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A short news story printed alongside a larger one.
- 2 a short news story presenting sidelights on a major story wordnet
- 3 A block of information placed at the side of a printed page.
"The tables in the sidebar can be used to determine “average” height and weight, and to provide a slight random variation if desired."
- 4 (law) a courtroom conference between the lawyers and the judge that is held out of the jury's hearing wordnet
- 5 A block of information placed at the side of a webpage. Internet
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 A short conference, between a judge and the attorneys of a case, held outside the hearing of the jury and the spectators at the court. US
- 7 The place in the courtroom where such a conference happens. US
- 8 An accessory side note or aside made during a conversation, without changing the scope of the audience.
"Well, when Charlotte had her mini-death, she went to Hell. Forest haunted her Hell loop and now is haunting her nightmares -- which, sidebar, Dan is also a part of, so things are heating up."
- 9 A short conversation between a smaller portion of a group held outside the hearing of the rest of the group.
"May we have a moment to discuss your proposition? Sidebar! Let's pick a topic. Sidebar!"
- 1 To place (information) into a sidebar, or as if into a sidebar. transitive
"Morgan "One of them was called Alexandria and then there was a place called the Kingdom. It actually had a king." Althea "A king?" Morgan "Even had a pet tiger." Althea "All right, we're gonna have to sidebar that one. These settlements, were they good places to live?""
Example
More examples"If you need more room on the screen, you can toggle the sidebar off."
Etymology
From side + bar.
Related phrases
More for "sidebar"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.