sideswipe

1 of 2

verb

side·​swipe ˈsīd-ˌswīp 

sideswiped; sideswiping; sideswipes

transitive verb

: to strike with a glancing blow along the side

sideswiped a parked car

sideswipe

2 of 2

noun

1

a

: the action of sideswiping

b

: an instance of sideswiping : a glancing blow

2

: an incidental deprecatory remark, allusion, or reference

Examples of sideswipe in a Sentence

Verb

The taxi sideswiped a parked car.

Noun

She took a sideswipe at the senator's voting record.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Police say the Jaguar was navigating around some traffic cones down the street and sideswiped the Volvo, angering Zuniga and motivating him to chase down the Jaguar and open fire. —Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 6 June 2024

Witnesses said Horton sideswiped two other cars on the highway just before the crash, court documents state. —Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 5 June 2024

Noun

The head-on crash caused a silver Toyota Camry behind the Jeep to be involved in a minor sideswipe, the California Highway Patrol said in a statement to FOX San Francisco. —Louis Casiano, Fox News, 14 May 2024

That's how dolphins B (collected in the 1980s in the Gulf of Mexico) and T captured their fish in the seawater pool, using a sideswipe motion of the head. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 1 Jan. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1891, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1857, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

sideswipe

1 of 2 verb

side·​swipe -ˌswīp 

: to hit along the side with a blow that bounces off at an angle

sideswiped a parked car

sideswipe

2 of 2 noun

1

: an instance of sideswiping : a blow from an angle that bounces off

2

: an indirectly related disapproving remark, allusion, or reference

a sideswipe at the senator's voting record