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Lateral shows up in all kinds of contexts. A lateral job change is one that keeps you at about the same job level and salary. A coach might have special drills to improve his players' lateral speed and agility. The British speak of "lateral thinking", thinking that grabs ideas that may not seem to be relevant but turn out to work well—what we might call "thinking outside the box". But we know lateral best from football. A lateral pass is a pass of the ball between teammates that usually goes to the side and slightly backward from the direction in which they're advancing; unlike a forward pass, a lateral may be made from any position, and any number may be made in a single play.
Synonyms
Examples of lateral in a Sentence
Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
Because the lateral dimension is much larger, the piezo disk diameter changes significantly, bending the whole structure.
—IEEE Spectrum, 17 Mar. 2024
Midfielder Fede Redondo will also miss the game Saturday and is expected to be out for eight weeks after suffering an injury to his left lateral collateral ligament, the team announced.
—Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 29 Mar. 2024
The shoes accommodate quick lateral movement and are quite durable.
—Madison Yauger, Peoplemag, 27 Mar. 2024
The examination revealed promising entry points for mid-level managers seeking lateral career transitions.
Team Leaders and Supervisors
A team leader or supervisor oversees operational tasks and projects, managing a team to achieve specific outcomes.
—Ebony Flake, Essence, 24 Mar. 2024
These include facelifts, lateral brow lifts and threads.
—USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2024
Because the lateral dimension is much larger, the piezo disk diameter changes more significantly and in the process bends the whole structure.
—IEEE Spectrum, 17 Mar. 2024
Provide more internal growth opportunities, such as promotions, transfers, or lateral moves, that allow employees to advance their careers and learn new skills.
—Phil Blair, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Feb. 2024
Adrienne Davis, Journal Sentinel, 27 Mar. 2024
With San Francisco facing a second-and-10 from the Kansas City 21, Brock Purdy threw a quick lateral to Jennings on the left side.
—Josh Dubow, USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2024
Canals slice between orchards and acres of silage, pushing all-important irrigation water through a network of laterals from farm to farm.
—Jake Bittle, WIRED, 6 Jan. 2024
But with 1:25 left in the game, a 25-yard completion to Travis Kelce followed by Kelce’s lateral to Toney for a 24-yard touchdown was wiped out after officials called offside on Toney.
—Jeff Fedotin, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2023
The laterals are pruned so that only two or three bud eyes remain.
—Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Jan. 2024
Red is used for advancing fire indicators, yellow for laterals and blue for where the fire may have backed up.
—John Riha, Discover Magazine, 12 Nov. 2023
Cincinnati commuters probably know about the trash that piles up along Interstates 71 and 75, the Norwood lateral, Ronald Reagan Highway – the list goes on.
—Erin Couch, The Enquirer, 10 Sep. 2023
Cable Lateral Raises: Her trainer also loves to assign her cable lateral raises to build up her shoulders and glutes.
—Dominique Fluker, Essence, 8 Sep. 2023
Evan Dudley, al, 1 Nov. 2020
By all accounts, there were no orders from Bill Belichick or Matt Patricia to lateral the ball and try to create a scoring play.
—Ben Volin, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Dec. 2022
Bullock completed about a 10-yard pass to Cameron Augurson on a dig route, and Augurson was able to lateral the ball back to Jacob Emmers.
—Dallas News, 6 Sep. 2022
New England coach Bill Belichick declined to say whether the Patriots players had been instructed to lateral on the final play or reminded not to so with the score tied.
—Mark Inabinett | Minabinett@al.com, al, 18 Dec. 2022
Florida State tried to lateral the ball multiple times, but Clemson eventually picked up a fumble and scored.
—Christopher Smith, al, 31 Oct. 2021
The vast majority of the time, when a football team tries to lateral its way down the field in desperation, the result benefits the defending the team.
—Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAY, 12 Sep. 2020
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill connected with Kenny Stills, who tossed the ball to DeVante Parker, who lateraled to Kenyan Drake, who ran 52 yards for the game-winning score, outrunning Rob Gronkowski en route to the end zone.
—Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2020
Brady recovered and lateraled to Ben Watson, who sent it back to Edelman, who flung it back to Thuney.
—BostonGlobe.com, 31 Dec. 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lateral.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Adjective, Noun, and Verb
Middle English laterale, from Latin lateralis, from later-, latus side
Adjective
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun
1578, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1930, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing lateral
Dictionary Entries Near lateral
Cite this Entry
“Lateral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lateral. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
lateral
1 of 2 adjective
lateral
2 of 2 noun
Medical Definition
lateral
adjective
More from Merriam-Webster on lateral
Nglish: Translation of lateral for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of lateral for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about lateral
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