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

As does any major competitive film festival, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has its own development sidebar for projects in their early stages. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 20 Nov. 2024

On the desktop, users can choose to view the participants in the grid, sidebar, or speaker views. —Jibin Joseph, PCMAG, 12 Nov. 2024

That said, Vacheron has explored a lot of creative sidebars in its recent past. —Carol Besler, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024

Her graduation short film Sea Salt played in Venice’s Horizons sidebar in 2023. —Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 17 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