Word.ws English Dictionary

side play

side play noun: lateral freedom of movement in moving parts.

Noun

side play (uncountable)

  1. Lateral freedom of movement in moving parts.
    • The leading end of the coupling rod is provided with ½-in. side-play and self-aligning bearings to take the sharp curves on the dock sidings, which have a radius of 170 ft. The bogie has a side-play of 5 in.1939 June, Lieut.-Colonel K. H. Reed, “Locomotives of the B.C.D.R.”, in Railway Magazine, pages 416, 422
    • Side play is allowed on the middle driving axle and its motor has freedom to move sideways with the axle, but the motors on the two outer driving axles are resiliently held irrespective of movement of the axles, which have reduced side-play.1959 June, “The first "Peak" class 2,300 h.p. diesel-electric locomotive for B.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 296

Questions about side play

What does side play mean?
Side play means lateral freedom of movement in moving parts.
What part of speech is side play?
Side play is a noun.

Words near side play in the dictionary

  1. side pieces
  2. side plank
  3. side planks
  4. side plate
  5. side plates
  6. side play
  7. side pot
  8. side pots
  9. side prime
  10. side profile
  11. side profiles

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: side play (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.

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