How to use sideline in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Sideline means a line at the side of something. Example: “She started the business as a sideline to her regular work and it ended up becoming the greater source of income.”

Examples of sideline by meaning

nounSomething that is additional or extra or that exists around the edges or margins of a main item.

She started the business as a sideline to her regular work and it ended up becoming the greater source of income.
Soup need not be just a sideline to a meal; if you like, it can be the main course.
I often do electronic repairs as a sideline.

nounThe area outside the playing field beyond each sideline.

The coach stood on the sidelines and bellowed commands at the team.

nounThe outside or perimeter of any activity.

to relegate to the sidelines
She installed the whole fixture while he simply watched from the sidelines.

verbTo place on the sidelines; to bench or to keep someone out of play.

The coach sidelined the player until he regained his strength.
Gomez got his chance with Gary Cahill sidelined and took it superbly with an assured performance as part of a three-man defence Southgate now looks certain to use at the World Cup.2017 November 14, Phil McNulty, “England 0-0 Brazil”, in BBC News

verbTo remove or keep out of circulation or out of the focus.

The illness sidelined him for weeks.
During 1971-72, spare Type 4s on other regions enabled the whole class to be sidelined, with Class 43s going first.2022 January 12, David Clough, “From Germany with love: a Warship retrospective”, in RAIL, number 948, page 49
Prigozhin’s exclusion from Ukraine would sideline one of Russia’s most recognisable war figures.2023 June 14, Pjotr Sauer, Andrew Roth, “Putin sides with military chiefs over placing Wagner under direct control”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

More sentences with sideline

Then he’ll hit a jump cut on you and head down the sideline.”2015 October 24, Ben Shpigel, “Chris Ivory, a Bulldozing Ballet Dancer, Keeps Defenders on Their Toes”, in The New York Times. From the entry jump cut
Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm, Mario Gomez, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller all watched from the sidelines.2011 December 7, Phil McNulty, “Man City 2 - 0 Bayern Munich”, in BBC Sport. From the entry group stage
Every time one of us fumbled with the choppers, it drew laughter from the sidelines.2009, John Higham, 360 Degrees Longitude: One Family's Journey Around the World, Alyson Publications. From the entry choppers
The milkery was usually just a sideline thing along with some porkers and chickens.1999 June 6, Dutchie, “I Almost Got to Shoot Somebody Tonight”, in alt.tasteless (Usenet), archived from the original on 26 Jan 2026. From the entry milkery
Here, the receiver combines the sideline-flag pattern with a second sideline cut.1993, Bud Wilkinson, Football: Winning Offense, →ISBN, page 68. From the entry sideline cut
A group of Black women came in later but only observed from the sidelines.1986, Chaya Shalom, “The only dyke from Israel”, in Off Our Backs, volume 16, number 8, →JSTOR, page 26. From the entry black
"In some parts of Tseheng County, class enemies incited people to promote sideline production on their own.[1972 May 4 [1972 May 2], “Kweichow Regional Conference on Agricultural Tasks”, in Daily Report: People's Republic of China, volume I…. From the entry Ceheng
If it is too far back he can't get as sharp a downward angle or sideline cut.1959 September, “Volleyball is a Rugged Game”, in Boys' Life, volume 49, number 9, page 56. From the entry sideline cut
The quarterback cut for the sidelines, and with practically no blocking, tight-rope-walked his way to a score.1939 November 24, Bob Frame, “Bendig Paces Fairmont Win over Oakwood”, in The Dayton Herald, volume LX, number 276, Dayton, Oh., →OCLC…. From the entry tight-rope-walk
With Yossi Benayoun, Jack Wilshere and Thomas Vermaelen already sidelined, the last thing Arsene Wenger needs is more injuries.2011 September 24, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC Sport. From the entry last thing one needs
An injury had sidelined our 6-10 senior pivotman, Connie Dierking, so we were still adjusting at both ends of the court.2008 March 9, Oscar Robertson, “When the Big O First Played the Garden: 56 in ’58”, in New York Times. From the entry pivotman
Twelve long years sitting on the sidelines.2004, Gardner Dozois, The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-First Annual Collection. From the entry blood in the water
Within a few years, I went from kid-in-the-Knothole-section to photographer’s spotter on the sideline during Evashevski’s outstanding seasons.2003, Ron Maly, Tales from the Iowa Sidelines, Sports Publishing, →ISBN, page viii. From the entry knothole section
Henry Payton joined Alan on the sidelines during the conclusion of the oddly delicate ballet known as On-Scene Investigation.1991, Stephen King, Needful Things. From the entry ballet
Olszewski made some nice moves, received key blocks by Rashod Berry, and Donte Moncrief and did a nice tightrope-walk along the sideline.2020 December 7, Jim McBride, “Patriots do no wrong in romp”, in The Boston Globe, volume 298, number 160, Boston, Mass., →ISSN, →OCLC…. From the entry tightrope-walk
Analyzing the Gospel through a first century management lens takes management from the sidelines and puts it smack dab in the middle of the highway.2013, B. Dyck, Management and the Gospel. From the entry choresome
"Who's the fluff girl today?" The young woman on the sideline steps forward, "I am." "Okay, Annie, please take care of Buck," says Cliff.2003, Lynn Isenberg, My Life Uncovered, Don Mills, Ont.: Red Dress Ink, →ISBN. From the entry fluff girl
Stope preparation includes the excavation of finger raises, sidelines, undercuts, and dogholes as well as the longholing and blasting of pillars formed by this work.1965, R. L. Bolmer, Stresses Induced Around Mine Development Workings by Undercutting and Caving, Climax Molybdenum Mine, Colorado. From the entry doghole
Counting on his own fresh condition, Jimmy raced him toward the sidelines, and got around him just in time to prevent being forced out.1928 November, Paschal N. Strong, “Signals”, in Boys' Life, volume 18, number 11, page 61. From the entry race
But many in the field are concerned that Big Tech companies are sidelining alignment research efforts in the race to keep building and releasing the technology into the world.2023 February 17, Billy Perrigo, “The New AI-Powered Bing Is Threatening Users. That's No Laughing Matter”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time…. From the entry alignment
That is the key - understanding the issues and saying things that accurately reflect the passengers' insight, rather than being just another of the shouty voices from the sidelines.2023 June 28, Anthony Smith talks to Paul Clifton, “The industry has to go back to basics”, in RAIL, number 986, pages 39–40. From the entry shouty
To be honest, I didn’t even know Hekate that well when I began, but within weeks I had gone from a sideline observer to a dedicated priestx.2021, Rowan “Briar” Rivers, “Foreword by Rowan “Briar” Rivers: Coming to the Crossroads”, in Jennifer Teixeira, Hekate: Temple of the…. From the entry priestx
Since its inception in the late 19th century, cheerleading has evolved from yelling encouragement on the sidelines to a competitive hybrid of gymnastics, dance and acrobatics.2020 November 29, Tess DeMeyer, Ilana Panich-Linsman, “The College Athletes Who Are Allowed to Make Big Bucks: Cheerleaders”, in The New…. From the entry cheerleading
Leilua will spend four weeks on the sideline after his late high tackle on Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards that has been widely hailed a “dog shot”.2020 July 7, Matt Logue, “NRL 2020: Emotional Joey Leilua to bounce back from ‘dog shot’”, in The Daily Telegraph. From the entry dog shot
His early interest in the law and politics competed with a call to the ministry and his budding sideline as a rock-and-roll drummer, pianist and composer.2018 February 20, Adam Bernstein, “J. Clay Smith Jr., forceful EEOC leader and Howard University law dean, dies at 75”, in The Washington…. From the entry foreordained
Ivory Coast's Seydou Doumbia is facing two months on the sidelines after injuring himself diving trying to win a penalty for his Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon.2017 October 4, “Dive puts Ivory Coast's Seydou Doumbia out for two months”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 22 Aug 2025. From the entry Doumbia
If a society comes to be dominated by anti-discriminators, there may be a temptation to rectify past wrongs even if other interests (i.e., white able-bodied males) are sidelined.2002, William A. Bogart, Consequences: The Impact of Law and Its Complexity, page 285. From the entry anti-discriminator
Unfortunately it quite often sidelined any democratic processes and became an integral part of the general mayhem as some unfortunate misfit of the moment was held down and gozzed on.2018, Roger Smith, Tell Me Why, Troubador Publishing, →ISBN, page 120. From the entry gozz
A woman cycling in a skirt was a hazard to herself and an eye-opener for men on the sidelines every time she raised a leg or fell off her bike.1998, Charles Panati, Sexy Origins and Intimate Things, New York: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 274. From the entry eye-opener

Meaning of sideline

noun A line at the side of something.
noun Something that is additional or extra or that exists around the edges or margins of a main item.
noun A line for hobbling an animal by connecting the fore and the hind feet of the same side.

Full definition of sideline

Questions about sideline in a sentence

How do you use sideline in a sentence?: Sideline is used as a noun and verb. For example: “She started the business as a sideline to her regular work and it ended up becoming the greater source of income.”
What is a short sentence with sideline?: “to relegate to the sidelines”
What does sideline mean?: Sideline means a line at the side of something.

Adapted from Wiktionary: sideline (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use sideline in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/sideline. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.