sidebar

noun

side·​bar ˈsīd-ˌbär 

1

a

: a short news story or graphic accompanying and presenting sidelights of a major story

b

: something incidental : sidelight

a sidebar to the essay's central theme

2

: a conference between the judge, the lawyers, and sometimes the parties to a case that the jury does not hear

Examples of sidebar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Once on the record, Dickinson recounted the sidebar with the attorneys, making factual claims that Beles says were flat-out false. —Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024

Clicking on source names expands a list of links to more information in a sidebar. —David Faris, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024

The international competition sits alongside two sidebar strands, Meet the Neighbors and Fiction Forward for regional and experimental works. —Zac Ntim, Deadline, 31 Oct. 2024

Luckily for me, she’s had quite a number of amazing moments in green; there’s like an entire sidebar dedicated to some of my favorite Taylor in green moments in the book. —Rebecca Milzoff, Billboard, 4 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Legal Definition

sidebar

noun

side·​bar ˈsīd-ˌbär 

: sidebar conference

had failed to request a sidebar before injecting the collateral offense into the trial

—Dockery v. State, 659 So. 2d 219 (1994)

also : the place near or before the bench where a sidebar conference takes place

the judge informed both attorneys…that they…could stand at sidebar while questions were posed

—Commonwealth v. Urena, 632 N.E.2d 1200 (1994)

compare bench, stand

sidebar adjective