sidebar

noun

side·​bar ˈsīd-ˌbär How to pronounce sidebar (audio)
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The most compelling feature is the sidecar functionality: users can access Comet Assistant by opening a sidebar on any web page, letting the AI agent see what’s on screen and answer questions about it in real-time. Steven Wolfe Pereira, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025 The Venice Film Festival has unveiled the 18 recently restored movies that will be showcased in its Venice Classics sidebar at upcoming 82nd edition. Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 11 July 2025 Claude has the same basic design as pretty much every chatbot: A text field for starting chats sits in the center alongside a left-hand sidebar that shows your conversation history. PC Magazine, 7 July 2025 The Chief Clerk of the Newton District Court and the Spanish-language interpreter assigned to Medina-Perez’s case also both also testified Tuesday, though neither was able to speak as to the contents of the off-the-record sidebar conversation at the center of the judicial misconduct hearing. Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald, 10 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for sidebar

Word History

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of sidebar was in 1928

Cite this Entry

“Sidebar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sidebar. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.

Legal Definition

sidebar

noun
side·​bar ˈsīd-ˌbär How to pronounce sidebar (audio)
: sidebar conference
had failed to request a sidebar before injecting the collateral offense into the trialDockery 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
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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