Word.ws English Dictionary

sideline

/ˈsaɪdlaɪn/

sideline noun: a line at the side of something.

Noun

sideline (plural sidelines)

  1. A line at the side of something.
    • Like most other fishes, the dragonet varies slightly in colour in different individuals, and at different seasons of the year. Mr. Pennant describes the pupils of the eyes to be of a rich sapphirine blue; the irides fine fiery carbuncle; the pectoral fins light brown; the side-line straight; the...1809, William Nicholson, “CALLIONYMUS”, in The British Encyclopedia, or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences; […], volume II (B … E), London: Printed by C[harles] Whittingham, […]; for Longman, Hurst...
  2. Something 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.
  3. A line for hobbling an animal by connecting the fore and the hind feet of the same side.
  4. A line defining the side boundary of a playing field. Used in Canadian football, field lacrosse and basketball.
    Synonyms:
    touchline
  5. (plural-normally) The area outside the playing field beyond each sideline.
    • The coach stood on the sidelines and bellowed commands at the team.
  6. (figuratively) The outside or perimeter of any activity.
    • to relegate to the sidelines
    • She installed the whole fixture while he simply watched from the sidelines.
  7. (Canada) A secondary road, especially a byroad at right angles to a main road.
  8. (Philippines) A side hustle.

Verb

sideline (third-person singular simple present sidelines, present participle sidelining, simple past and past participle sidelined)

  1. (transitive) To 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
  2. (figuratively, transitive) To remove or keep out of circulation or out of the focus.
    • The illness sidelined him for weeks.
    • Subplots that might have been fun to explore were relegated or eventually sidelined altogether in the case of characters like Gendry, who disappeared for years and finally resurfaces as a blacksmith in King’s Landing, literally waiting for the call to his hero’s journey.2017 August 13, Brandon Nowalk, “Oldtown offers one last game-changing secret as Game Of Thrones goes behind enemy lines (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club

sideline meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

sideline in Hindi

साइडलाइन

sideline in Tamil

ஒதுக்கு, ஓரங்கட்டு, பக்கச்செயல்

sideline in Urdu

سائڈلائن, سائیڈلائن

sideline in Bengali

পার্শ্বরেখা, অতিরিক্ত কাজ
More languagesFewer languages
sideline in Telugu
సైడ్లైన్
sideline in Malayalam
ഒതുക്കുക otukkuka
sideline in Kannada
ಉಪವೃತ್ತಿ, ಉಪಕಸುಬು
sideline in Punjabi
ਸਾਈਡਲਾਈਨ, ਸਾਈਡਲਾਈਨ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
sideline in Gujarati
સાઇડલાઇન
sideline in Odia
ସାଇଡଲାଇନ
sideline in Nepali
साइडलाइन गर्न
sideline in Tagalog
tabing guhit, hiwatik

Examples of sideline in a sentence

  • I often do electronic repairs as a sideline.
  • Conservative Catholics, Relegated to Sidelines, Denounce Papal Gathering [title]2023 October 3, Jason Horowitz, “Conservative Catholics, Relegated to Sidelines, Denounce Papal Gathering”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
  • 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:

All 40 example sentences with sideline

Synonyms of sideline

Forms of sideline

Noun
pluralsidelines
alternative formside line
alternative formside-line
Verb
third-person singular presentsidelines
present participlesidelining
past participlesidelined
pastsidelined

Past tense of sideline: sidelined

Plural of sideline: sidelines

Origin of sideline

From side + line.

Words formed from sideline

Phrases with sideline

Questions about sideline

What does sideline mean?
Sideline means a line at the side of something.
What is sideline in Hindi?
Sideline in Hindi is साइडलाइन. See Sideline meaning in Hindi.
How do you use sideline in a sentence?
I often do electronic repairs as a sideline.
What part of speech is sideline?
Sideline can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce sideline?
Sideline is pronounced /ˈsaɪdlaɪn/.
What is the plural of sideline?
The plural of sideline is sidelines.

Words near sideline in the dictionary

  1. sidelifter
  2. sidelifters
  3. sidelight
  4. sidelighting
  5. sidelights
  6. sideline
  7. sideline cut
  8. sideline cuts
  9. sideline reporter
  10. sideline reporters
  11. sidelined

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sideline (page history and authors); sideline (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sideline (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sideline (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sideline (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sideline (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ഒതുക്കുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); sideline (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sideline (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sideline (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sideline (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sideline (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-sideline.ogg.

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