Word.ws English Dictionary

onside

onside adjective: not in an offside position; in the part of the playing area where one can legally play the ball, puck, etc.

Adjective

onside (not comparable)

  1. Not in an offside position; in the part of the playing area where one can legally play the ball, puck, etc.
    • The goal was allowed because the attacker was onside.
    • After passing the puck, the center immediately breaks to the front of the net, making certain to stay onside.2004, Bruce Driver, Clare Wharton, The Baffled Parent's Guide to Coaching Youth Hockey, page 178
  2. (broadly, slang) Within bounds.
    • [Verse 2:Kano]:On-sight, thought he was onside, innit. Saw them guys, no shots fired innit. If you ain't real then don't ride, innit. That postcode, that's offside, innit.2016 March 4, “3 Wheel-Ups” (track 4), in Made in the Manor, performed by Kano (British musician),Giggs (rapper),Wiley (musician)
  3. On the side of a vehicle from which the driver, paddler, etc. propels it.
    • The toll plaza will consist of an administration building and 16 onside modern barrier-type toll boths, with provision for four additional toll booths should future traffic demand require them.1957, California Highways and Public Works - Volume 36, page 45
    • No, there's no way I call up just for a chat, like 'Hi, Nigel, you've left your rear onside winker on!'1987, Punch - Volume 293, Issues 7662-7669, page lviii
  4. Favourably located, from the point of view of the player taking a finesse.
    • With A-Q-10 opposite x-x-x, you have a 24% chance of three tricks, both missing honors being onside. You have a 52% chance of two tricks, with one honor onside and the other offside. FInally, you have a 24% chance of making only one trick, when both the king and the jack are offside.2000, David Bird, Marc Smith, Planning the Play in Notrump, →ISBN, page 25
  5. In agreement or support; on board.
    • There was a very delicate balancing act the whole time about measures that would keep the Unionists onside without upsetting the Nationalist-Republican community too much.2012, T. James, Elite Statecraft and Election Administration, →ISBN

Noun

onside (plural onsides)

  1. The portion of the playing area where one can legally play the ball, puck, etc.
  2. The side of a vehicle on which the driver primarily propels it.
    • The cross-bow rudder uses the offside blade on the onside of the kayak.2017, Nigel Foster -, The Art of Kayaking: Everything You Need to Know About Paddling, →ISBN

Examples of onside in a sentence

  • Rafael van der Vaart then stayed onside to slot past Paddy Kenny when he collected Ledley King's mis-hit shot.2011 October 30, Alistair Magowan, “Tottenham 3 - 1 QPR”, in BBC Sport:
  • The difference in recovery percentage between surprise onside kicks and non-surprise onside kicks is striking.2012, Jeffrey Ma, The House Advantage: Playing the Odds to Win Big In Business, →ISBN:
  • If the ball carrier you are doubling gets the ball through the lane, the rotation is as follows: The onside man who was denying his man the ball continues the same technique.2018, Jack B. Kaley, Richard B. Donovan, Lacrosse Essentials, →ISBN, page 113:
  • Continue the rotation until your onside shoulder is pointing toward the bow and your onside arm is fully extended.2004, Dennis Stuhaug, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Canoeing and Kayaking, →ISBN:

Forms of onside

Adjective
alternative formon side
alternative formon-side
Noun
pluralonsides

Origin of onside

From on + side.

Words formed from onside

Phrases with onside

Questions about onside

What does onside mean?
Onside means not in an offside position; in the part of the playing area where one can legally play the ball, puck, etc.
How do you use onside in a sentence?
Rafael van der Vaart then stayed onside to slot past Paddy Kenny when he collected Ledley King's mis-hit shot.
What part of speech is onside?
Onside can be an adjective or a noun.

Words near onside in the dictionary

  1. onshell
  2. onshore
  3. onshored
  4. onshores
  5. onshoring
  6. onside
  7. onside kick
  8. onside kicks
  9. onsides
  10. onsie
  11. onsies

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: onside (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-onside.oga.

Cite this entry: “onside.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/onside. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.